Greenhead ants Rhytidoponera metallica make trade‐offs between food temperature and food concentration |
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| Authors: | LACHLAN PETTIT TANYA LATTY |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;2. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia |
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| Abstract: | 1. Foraging animals are often faced with foods that vary in several important attributes, some of which may be in conflict with one another. For ectothermic animals, food temperature can be an important characteristic, as the consumption of cold foods is metabolically costly. 2. Here, the effect of food temperature on food preferences in the green‐headed ant Rhytidoponera metallica (Smith, 1858) was investigated. The first aim of the study was to determine how food concentration (caloric value) and relative food temperature influenced colony‐level preferences. We found that, all else being equal, green‐headed ant colonies preferred warmer food solutions over colder solutions, and more concentrated food solutions over less concentrated ones. 3. Next, the question of whether green‐head ant colonies could make trade‐offs between temperature and food concentration was tested. It was found that ant colonies switched their preferences in favour of a colder food solution when the colder food solution was 10 times more concentrated than the warmer food solution. 4. These experiments show that temperature is an important characteristic shaping food preferences in ants. Moreover, we show that colonies can make trade‐offs between food concentration and food temperature. |
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| Keywords: | Food concentration Formicidae temperature trade‐offs |
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