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Joanna I. Reznikova

Bio: Joanna I. Reznikova is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Foraging & Formica pratensis. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 35 citations.

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TL;DR: The use of labyrinths with bait hidden in them showed that the subdominants are more enterprising foragers; when interacting with the dominant they play the role of scouts.
Abstract: With the help of field experiments, the nonantagonistic relations and exchange of information among ants of various species occupying similar ecological niches were studied. Formica pratensis and F. cunicularia glauca, respectively dominant and subdominant in their associations, were chosen as the model pair. The dominant has a defended territory with a clearly defined secondary division. The feeding territory of the subdominant is organized to the type of individual foraging. The use of labyrinths with bait hidden in them showed that the subdominants are more enterprising foragers; when interacting with the dominant they play the role of scouts. The amount of prey of F. pratensis is so dependent on the presence of F. cunicularia that when the nests of this species are isolated, the F. pratensis bring three times less prey. The basis for the interaction of the foragers of different species is interspecific kinopsis and distant training.

35 citations


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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Feb 1988-Oikos
TL;DR: Expectations for the nest-distribution pattern of ant species in the late successional habitats of the boreal taiga biome are tested with bait experiments and nest mapping, and the results are modelled by multiway contingency tables.
Abstract: Differences in social organization and behaviour rank ant species into a competition hierarchy (starting with superior competitors): territorials (e.g., the Formica rufa -group red wood ants), encounterers (e.g. Camponotus, Lasius niger), and submissives (e.g., Formica fusca). Territorials and encounterers behave aggressively against individuals of alien colonies; these species are not expected to cooccur. Submissives behave recessively and may coexist with stronger species, but their forager numbers and nest densities should decrease. If such small-scale behavioural processes structure the ant community, predictable larger-scale nest-distribution pattern of the species is expected. We tested the expectations with bait experiments and nest mapping, and modelled the results by multiway contingency tables. Submissives showed complementary abundances with territorials in terms of forager numbers on the baits, and their nest densities within the territory increased toward its periphery. Pressure by territorial and encounter species on the baits caused the submissive species to shift from protein to carbohydrate. Territorials and encounterers had complementary occurrences on the baits. The nests of territorials were far apart, with only occasional nests of encounter species at the outskirts of the territory. In the late successional habitats of the boreal taiga biome superior territorial competitors, especially the polycalic red wood ant species, assume the role of organizing centers of ant species assemblages.

407 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Nests of the submissive ant Formica fusca L. fusco L. were sampled in two adjacent territories of the dominant wood ants Formica polyctena Först and distance is assumed to be inversely related to the extent of disturbance of F.polyctena.
Abstract: . 1. Twenty-three nests of the submissive ant Formica fusca L. were sampled in two adjacent territories of the dominant wood ant Formica polyctena Forst. The nests were dug up at different distances from the wood-ant mounds. Distance is assumed to be inversely related to the extent of disturbance of F. fusca by F. polyctena. 2. Colony success of F. fusca was assayed by counting the numbers of workers (colony size), and worker and sexual offspring in a nest. For individual size, the head width and dry weight of fifty workers per nest were measured. 3. Colony size correlated positively with the numbers of worker and sexual offspring in one territory, but only with worker offspring in the other. 4. Distance from the wood-ant mound correlated positively with colony size and numbers of worker and female offspring in one territory. In the other territory distance correlated positively with number of females, but negatively with number of worker offspring. No significant correlations between distance and the size measurements were obtained. 5. Because of its nonaggressive behaviour F. fusca may nest fairly close to a wood-ant mound but is likely to show reduced abundances in terms of nest density and forager number, and, ultimately, lowered fitness.

71 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that the suppressed colony success of F. fusca is attributable to the diminished size and decreased retrieval rate of prey items close to the woodant mound abounding with interfering wood-ant foragers.
Abstract: Dominance relations between the territorial wood ant Formica polyctena and the submissive F. fusca generate testable predictions on the mechanisms of their coexistence. Here I tested the influence of interference competition by the dominant F. polyctena on the foraging of F. fusca. In the presence of F. polyctena, the activity and the retrieval rate of items of F. fusca decreased significantly. When F. fusca were given a choice between small chironomids and flies a hundred times heavier they selected nearly always flies in the absence of wood ants; when disturbed F. fusca took proportionately more chironomids. In nature, irrespective of distance from the wood-ant mound the size distribution of potentially available food items was the same. F. fusca collected smaller items close to the wood-ant mound, where the density of interfering wood ants was high, than far from it. Also, F. polyctena carried larger protein items from the outskirts of its territory than from the center. The items of F. fusca were on average smaller than those of F. polyctena although the item-size overlap was substantial. When encountering a F. polyctena, those F. fusca workers carrying a fly always lost their booty to the dominant but always managed to bring the chironomids to the nest. F. fusca and F. polyctena were equally efficient in detecting single chironomids placed on the surface of ground, but the presence of either species decreased the discovery rate of the other. This implies mutual exploitation competition between the species for the locally most abundant protein resource. F. polyctena found single flies faster than F. fusca. In an earlier study I showed that close to the wood-ant mound the colony size and production of sexual offspring of F. fusca were reduced. I suggest that the suppressed colony success of F. fusca is attributable to the diminished size and decreased retrieval rate of prey items close to the woodant mound abounding with interfering wood-ant foragers.

65 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The high probability of return to the site of an encounter between colonies suggests that encounters may have a second function: to indicate the presence of resources.
Abstract: We examined how the foraging ecology of the seed-harvesting ant Messor andrei depends upon the distribution of resources and the presence of conspecifics. Bait experiments showed that colonies can recruit to high-density patches of seeds. However, at the seasonal scale, natural resource distribution did not affect the distribution of foraging activity. We conducted the study in years of high rainfall and thus seed availability may not have been a limiting factor. Colonies always preferred to forage in areas closer to their nest, which may reduce travel time between the nest and foraging sites. On a day-to-day scale, encounters between neighboring colonies at a site increased the probability that colonies would return to forage at that site; this was true both for natural and experimental encounters. In the summer, this resulted in colonies foraging at the sites of intraspecific encounters on more days than in areas where no encounter had occurred. Encounters between colonies included fighting, and there was little overlap between the foraging areas of neighboring colonies: both results suggest that one function of encounters is to defend foraging space. The high probability of return to the site of an encounter between colonies suggests that encounters may have a second function: to indicate the presence of resources.

60 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Pterostichus magus and P. oblongopunctatus, which are comparable with red wood ants in body length and speed of movement, possess the most effective stereotyped tactics in combination with a flexible behaviour that allow these species to penetrate ant foraging territory and partly avoid interference competition.

55 citations