Effects of body size on optimal foraging distance of ants at UMBS.

Abstract

According to optimal foraging theory, an animal will feed in such a way that the costs of foraging are less than the benefit received. While not all animals can forage optimally all of the time due to the need for a nutritionally varied diet, ants have been shown to behave optimally in both where and how they forage. In this study we addressed the question: Do larger species of ants forage farther than smaller species? We hypothesized that ants have optimal foraging ranges and will be less likely to forage at a distant food source. These optimal ranges will then show a relationship with ant size, assuming that with incresing body size, the cost of foraging far from the anthill will decrease. Therefore, we predicted that there will be a positive correlation between ant size and foraging maximum distance. Secondly, we predicted that there will be an inverse correlation between distance and number of ants foraging for each species of ant tested.