How do ants carry food?

Introduction

Ants exhibit a variety of strategies for transporting food, which can involve individual or cooperative efforts. These strategies are influenced by factors such as the size and weight of the food item, the morphology of the ants, and the need for efficiency in their foraging activities.

Key Insights

Cooperative Transport:
- Ants often work together to transport larger food items, with specific roles such as "steering" ants that help re-orient the food to reduce drag and improve efficiency .
- The spatial arrangement of ants during cooperative transport is non-random, with ants positioning themselves at corners or ends of the food item to maximize leverage and speed .
Individual vs. Group Transport:
- Smaller food items are typically carried by individual ants, while larger or heavier items are dragged or transported cooperatively .
- The method of transport (carrying vs. dragging) depends on the size and weight of the food item, as well as the size of the ant .
Efficiency and Adaptation:
- Ants adapt their transport strategies based on the difficulty of the task. For example, if an ant encounters resistance while dragging a food item, it may change its approach or recruit additional workers .
- Larger ants are generally more efficient at transporting food due to their greater strength, but smaller ants are more numerous and can collectively achieve high transport rates.
Trail Formation and Food Storage:
- Ants may develop trail tracts to efficiently transport food from the source to the nest, especially when the quantity of food is substantial.
- Some ant species have specialized castes, such as soldiers with larger gasters, that store food within their bodies to help the colony survive periods of food scarcity .

Conclusion

Ants employ a range of strategies to transport food, from individual carrying to complex cooperative efforts. The choice of strategy depends on the size and weight of the food item, the morphology of the ants, and the need for efficiency. Cooperative transport involves specific roles and non-random spatial arrangements to maximize efficiency, while individual transport is adapted based on the difficulty of the task. Additionally, trail formation and food storage within the colony are crucial for managing food resources effectively.

How do ants carry food?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Cooperative food transport in the Neotropical ant, Pheidole oxyops

Collective food transport in Neotropical ants, Pheidole oxyops, is common and efficient, with ants preferentially transporting food items from the front and back, increasing speed by up to 29%.

Ants and Plants

Ants help spread seeds of wildflowers by eating the fatty coating on the seeds, allowing the seeds to germinate and grow in new locations.

The carrying of ants (Cataglyphis bicolor Fab.) by others of the same nest

Ants of the same species (Cataglyphis bicolor Fab.) carry individuals from their nests to new nests, and both live and dead ants are transported to new nests, with carriers distinct in habits and excavating earth from the nest.

Simple rules result in the adaptive turning of food items to reduce drag during cooperative food transport in the ant Pheidole oxyops

Ants in Pheidole oxyops cooperatively transport food items by turning them to reduce drag, a strategy that may have evolved through pre-existing retrieval behavior and the physics of large loads.

The Transport of Prey By Ants

Ants can effectively transport prey to the nest, with pairs of Formica lugubris workers showing greater force and efficiency when pulling together for 8-10 minutes.

Ergonomics of load transport in the seed harvesting ant Messor barbarus: morphology influences transportation method and efficiency

Ant load transportation efficiency depends on their morphology and the method they use, with small ants having a higher relative transport rate than large ants, suggesting a greater benefit for colonies in investing in small ants for food item transport.

The Transport of Prey By an Ant, Pheidole Crassinoda Em

Ants in Pheidole crassinoda Em. can transport prey in groups, with the force exerted increasing in successive hauls and ants rearrangeing into more cooperative patterns.

Cue for ant's trail development

Ants develop a trail tract to carry food to the nest when there are more than 70 food particles, but not when there are less than 70 food particles.

Food storage and morphological divergence between worker and soldier castes in a subterranean myrmicine ant, Carebara perpusilla

Carebara perpusilla ants have developed highly dimorphic workers and soldiers that can store food within their bodies, enhancing their ability to store food and survive starvation events.

Feeding and Stocking Up: Radio-Labelled Food Reveals Exchange Patterns in Ants

Ant colonies efficiently share food, rapidly feed all workers, and build up food stocks, while managing to feed and stock up in changing environments.

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