Dumping behaviour of Australian desert ants (Melophorus bagoti) (Hymenoptera:Formicidae)

S. Deeti*, C. Freas, T. Murray, K. Cheng

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
24 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Central Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti maintains ground-nesting colonies in the semi-desert habitat. These ants manage waste by dumping items outside the nest. To examine this process, we placed organic and non-organic materials that are associated with either low or high pathogenic risk around or into the nest and observed the nest’s response. We found that generally, ants dumped high-pathogenic-risk materials (dead larvae, dead ants of the colony, foraged food, moth, and non-nest cicada exoskeleton) further from the nest than low-pathogenic-risk ones (sand, buffel grass, cookies), with the exception of (organic) larval shells from their own nest, which were also dumped close to the nest. This pattern of dumping suggests that these ants choose their dumping distance based on how spoilable the experimental materials are.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)225-232
Number of pages8
JournalInsectes Sociaux
Volume70
Issue number2
Early online date6 Apr 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2023. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • Ant colony
  • Hygienic behaviour
  • Insect behaviour
  • Waste management

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