Observations on relocation of a nest by a colony of red honey ants (Melophorus bagoti)

The desert-dwelling Australian Red Honey Ant (Melophorus bagoti) rarely moves from one nest site to another. We observed the relocation of one colony of this ant at a field site about 10 km south of Alice Springs. This relocation, which was 36 m from the old nest, took 17 days to complete with the relocation of the brood itself taking only 1 to 2 days. During this unexpected move, we observed a large amount of outdoor activity by guard ants and physical contact between guard ants, as well as between guard ants and foragers. This amount of contact between the guard ants and foragers has never been described before. The relocation apparently resulted from experimental changes around the nest site above ground, a conclusion that differs from that of the only other study on this species which suggested that interference with the actual nest underground triggered the relocation.