Food choice by Messor arenarius ants in different distances from their nest: testing increased selectivity theory

Abstract

According to central-place-foraging theory, selectivity of central-place foragers to larger or more profitable food items should increase as the distance from their nest to the food increases. In this research it was checked, if the selectivity of ants of the species Messor arenarius (Fabricius) to larger food items increases as a function of the distance from their nest entrance to the food site. In food choice experiments, whole wheat seeds and halves of wheat seeds cut longitudinally were offered to M. arenarius ants at the same points. These ants preferred halves of wheat seeds cut longitudinally over whole wheat seeds, in all the distances from nest entrance that were checked in this research - 1m, 5m or 10m from nest entrance. According to these findings, M. arenarius ants did not show increased selectivity to different wheat particles within a distance range of 1m – 10m from their nest entrance. It is possible that since the nutritional value of wheat is relatively high, these ants could not evaluate the nutritional value of wheat particles that were offered to them.