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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #213054
Title: Seed harvester ants (Polonomyrmex rugosus) as "pulse" predators

Author
item WHITFORD, W. - NMSU JORNADA EXPER RANGE
item JACKSON, E - ANCHORAGE, AK

Submitted to: Journal of Arid Environments
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/10/2007
Publication Date: 3/6/2007
Citation: Whitford, W.G., Jackson, E. 2007. Seed harvester ants (Polonomyrmex rugosus) as "pulse" predators. Journal of Arid Environments. 70:549-552.

Interpretive Summary: This study suggest that predatory behavior of harvester ants is an opportunistic activity that occurs when ants encounter suitable insect prey while hunting seeds. Here we report a brief study that demonstrates that seed harvester ants exhibit a "pulse" of predation in response to a short duration episodic event (the emergence of a large number of prey). Study was limited to one area where the numbers of emerging on cicada were apparently sufficiently abundant to stimualte intensive foraging on emergent cicadas by harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex rugosus).

Technical Abstract: Seed harvesting ants, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, collected grass cicadas at a high rate (>5 min-1 taken into the nest) at one location where cicada emergence exceeded 3m-2. Dry conditions in the winter-spring resulted in no annual plants in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. P. rugosus colonies were inactive in areas where grass cicada emergence was less than 1 m-2. P. rugosus initiate intense predatory activity in response to pulse of large numbers of prey. This study demonstrates that predatory behavior of seed harvesting ants is not limited to incidental encounters with prey during seed harvesting activities. Pulse predation demonstrates the importance of protein to seed harvester ant colonies.