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- Title
THERMAL ECOLOGY OF THE NEOTROPICAL ARMY ANT ECITON BURCHELLII.
- Authors
Meisel, Joe E.
- Abstract
The article reports on the findings of a study about the thermal ecology of Eciton burchellii in various forests in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica. The study found that Eciton burchellii colonies in the forests stayed away from open pasture at 51.3 degrees Celsius on 100 percent of all edge interactions. Ant raids in primary forest also stood back at artificially entrenched temperatures of more than 43 degrees Celsius but endured at 45.5 degrees Celsius with prey baits. The ants' running velocity on recognized feeding trails increased by 18 percent when substrate was elevated from 28.4 to 38 degrees Celsius and abandoned trails at more than 43 degrees Celsius. The study further indicated that army ants avoided local hot spots on the forest floor and follow trails with cooler routes.
- Subjects
COSTA Rica; ECITON; ARMY ants; INSECT behavior; EFFECT of climate on insect migration; FOREST ecology; HABITATS; THERMODYNAMIC cycles; ENVIRONMENTAL sciences
- Publication
Ecological Applications, 2006, Vol 16, Issue 3, p913
- ISSN
1051-0761
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1890/1051-0761(2006)016[0913:TEOTNA]2.0.CO;2