Resources and the flexible allocation of work in the desert ant, Aphaenogaster cockerelli

Summary: Social insect colonies can respond to changes in resource availability by altering their foraging behavior. Colonies of the desert ant, Aphaenogaster cockerelli, responded to experimental changes in the distribution and type of available resources by adjusting the numbers of ants engaged in foraging and other tasks outside the nest, and by adjusting the temporal patterns of these activities. Colonies foraged more intensely for protein resources than for seed resources, and for high-density resources more than for low-density resources. This flexible allocation and resource use may promote coexistence with interspecific competitors such as ants in the genus Myrmecocystus.