PT Journal
AU Dejean, A
   Moreau, C
   Uzac, P
   Le Breton, J
   Kenne, M
TI The predatory behavior of Pheidole megacephala
SO Comptes Rendus Biologies
JI C. R. Biol.
PY 2007
BP 701
EP 709
VL 330
IS 9
DE Invasive ants; Landmarks; Pheidole megacephala; Predatory behavior; Recruitment; pheromone; ant; behavioral ecology; foraging behavior; invasive species; nest predation; predator-prey interaction; animal experiment; article; competitor species; controlled study; host range; Isoptera; nonhuman; predation; predator prey interaction; prey selection; species invasion; worker (insect); Animals; Ants; Feeding Behavior; Female; Social Behavior; Formicidae; Hexapoda
AB We studied the foraging and predatory behaviors of the invasive African myrmicine ant, Pheidole megacephala (F.) in its native range. Workers can singly capture a wide range of insects, including relatively large prey items. For still larger prey, they recruit at short range those nestmates situated within reach of an alarm pheromone and together spread-eagle the insect. These behaviors are complimented by a long-range recruitment (of nestmates remaining in the nest) based on prey size. P. megacephala scouts also use long-range recruitment when they detect the landmarks of termites and competing ant species, thus permitting them to avoid confronting these termites and ants solitarily.
ER