Adventures Among Ants - Mark W. Moffett [204]
key individuals, 222
killer whales, 32
Kuala Belalong Field Studies Center, 126
Labidus: swarm raids and, 23
labor reserves, 27, 48, 79, 113, 128, 160, 236n9, 239n25. See also excess labor force
Lanchester, Frederick, 57
larval stage (larvae): defined, 9; as food, 47, 79, 81, 129, 166; in fire ant raft, 141; food for, 43, 63, 257n3; migration and, 15, 58; polymorphism determined by quantity of food, 9; silk of, for nest making, 113, 114, 124; used to process food, 118
lawns, 134, 249n3
leadership: queen’s lack of, 34; reverse dominance hierarchy, 263n12; temporary/lack of permanent, 34, 68, 78, 86, 96, 145, 153, 159–64, 225, 262n29. See also decentralized control
leafcutter ants (Atta and Acromyrmex): air quality in nest, 173–74; Atta cephalotes, 185–86, 256–57n78; A. colombica, 192–93, 256–57n78, 258n28; A. mexicana, 170; A. sexdens, 175, 192; A. texana, 170; A. vollenweideri, 177, 193; bites of, 171; caching of leaf cuttings, 180–81; clearing under trees, 194, 258n28; colony, establishment, 186–87, 196, 257n79; colony lifespan, 187; colony size, 172–74; combativeness of, 186, 256–57n78; complexity of society, 5; defense of colony, 171, 254n2, 256n77; defense of individuals, 183, 186, 256n72; dependence on fungus, 172; disturbed land preferred by, 182; division of labor, 174–75, 179, 186, 187, 200, 254nn23, 26, 257n85; domesticated cultivars and, 182, 256n59; eggs of, as food, 186; evolution of, 195–96; excrement as fertilizer, 177, 197, 259n32; flooding and swimming, 141; fungicide produced by ant-grown bacterium, 7, 192, 258n19; fungus cultivars, 196–97; fungus disease (Escovopsis fungus), 192, 193, 197, 200; fungus domestication, 188–90, 195–97, 200, 257n9, 259nn32, 34, 42; fungus farming, 172, 174–77, 259nn34, 42; fungus gardens, 172, 172, 173, 186, 257n79; fungus plant parts, 172; fungus pruning and care, 175, 197, 254n27; fungus robbery, 197; group transport, 254n9; health of plants and foliage, 182; hygiene, 175, 183, 186, 188, 192–93, 200, 254n27, 258nn14, 19; larvae food, 172; leafcutting methods, 170, 171, 254n10; leaf sources, 181–82, 256n59; leaf transport, 172, 184–85; mandibles of, 171; midden heaps and chambers, 171, 183, 188, 192–93, 194; nectaries and, 183, 256n69; nest organization, 171, 173–74; nest sites, 187; nest size, 170–71, 172–73, 177; orientation cues, 138; pheromones of, 18, 179; plants, relationship with, 181–82, 194–95, 258–59nn25, 28, 30; polymorphism of, 174–75n23, 186, 187; queens, 186–87, 196, 257n79; range of, 170; recruitment trails, 171; sap drinking, 172, 175, 181, 186; scouts, 178; seed sowing by, 194–95; size matching of ant and burden, 171–72, 180–81, 254n10; soldiers, 171, 187, 254n2; species of, 170, 254n1; speed of walking, 179; stridulation, 183, 256n77; as superorganism, 174, 178, 186, 187, 192; task partitioning, 180–81, 255n52; taste of, 186; transportation system, 177–79, 187, 255n33; uphill burdens and, 172; as vegetarians, 172; weight of colony, 174
learning: by colonies, 225; teaching and, 153; by workers, 138, 178, 181–82, 189, 215, 222, 229, 244n8
LeBrun, Ed, 208
Leopold, Starker, 149
Leptanilla, 118
Leptogenys: exploratory trails of distinguenda, 237n14; foraging strategies of, 26, 237n14; migration of, 59, 240n14; scouting and recruitment by, 19, 34
Leptothorax albipennis, 225–26
Liang, Dangsheng, 213
lie-in-wait foraging strategy: examples of, 26, 236n6; Proatta ants, 25–26, 25; weaver ants, 116. See also foragers and foraging
life span: collective organization and, 225; of colony, 187; of queens, 8, 187, 225; of repletes, 225. See also death
Linepithema humile. See Argentine ants
lions, 32, 44, 63
longevity. See life span
Longino, Jack, 137
Lophomyrmex bedoti, 171
Loret, John, 230
lost ants: death of, 24, 41; error as creative tool and, 145; falling and, 135; stragglers, 24
lower attines: fungus farming of, 195, 196, 197, 198–99
Lubbock, Sir John, 154
Maeterlinck, Maurice, 229–30
magnetic compass, internal, 138
majors, defined, 5. See also polymorphism
males: of Argentine ants, 216, 262n22; social function of, 9, 234n6;