Diet and Spatial Pattern of Foraging in Ectatomma opaciventre ...
Diet and Spatial Pattern of Foraging in Ectatomma opaciventre ...
Diet and Spatial Pattern of Foraging in Ectatomma opaciventre ...
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610 Sociobiology Vol. 58, No. 3, 2011<br />
carried to the nest <strong>in</strong> their m<strong>and</strong>ibles. The observations were made <strong>in</strong> the dry<br />
season from 14:00 to 18:00, which corresponds to the period <strong>of</strong> the highest<br />
forag<strong>in</strong>g activity for this species <strong>in</strong> the afternoon (Pie 2004). The total time<br />
<strong>of</strong> observation was 72 hours. The food collected was stored <strong>in</strong> 70% alcohol<br />
for further identification.<br />
RESULTS<br />
<strong>Forag<strong>in</strong>g</strong> pathways<br />
The workers <strong>of</strong> E. <strong>opaciventre</strong> foraged on average at a maximum distance <strong>of</strong><br />
2.18m ± 1.6m (SD) (range: 0.40-5.14 m), spend<strong>in</strong>g on average 28.1 ± 15.6<br />
m<strong>in</strong> (SD) (range: 8- 66) outside their nest. The maximum forag<strong>in</strong>g distance<br />
from the nest <strong>and</strong> the trip duration are presented <strong>in</strong> Table 1. Workers <strong>of</strong> nests<br />
1, 2, <strong>and</strong> 3 showed no significant difference <strong>in</strong> the distance or time <strong>of</strong> forag<strong>in</strong>g<br />
(p> 0.05). The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient for the variables<br />
time <strong>and</strong> distance was r = 0.848 (p