Adventures Among Ants - Mark W. Moffett [205]
mandibles: of African driver ants, 97–98; of Amazon ants, 150–51; defined, 7; of Eciton burchellii army ants, 2, 91; of leafcutter ants, 171; suited for mass transport, 63; of trapjaw ants, 42–44
mango trees, weaver ants and, 124, 126
mangrove swamps, nests in, 142
Manu National Park, Peru, 131–32, 131
maps for navigation, 138
marauder ants (Pheidologeton diversus): aged and infirm, 54; as agricultural/household pest, 16, 19; aversion to eating other ants, 47; blowfly parasite of, 70; as central-place forager, 56; as choice for study, 4–5; colonies, establishing, 60–61, 240n19; combativeness, 47–48, 55–56, 204; decentralized authority, 34–35; disturbances by humans, response to, 26, 27, 28, 29; flooding and swimming, 140–41, 142; “giants,” 14, 53; group transport, 15–16, 62, 64–66, 65, 67–68, 70; habitat of, 22; hitchhiking on major workers, 14, 14; home, knowing direction of, 49–51; locating, 13–14; midden heaps of, 55, 57, 61; migrations of, 15, 58–60; naming of, 12, 16, 236n4; nest defense, 56–58; nest flooding, 140–41; nest organization, 57; as omnivores, 45–49, 84–85, 238n18; “patrollers,” 27, 29; pheromonal communication, 29, 30–31, 237nn13, 14; polymorphism of, 4–5, 14, 14, 38–42, 57, 146, 238nn2, 5; queens, 56, 58–59, 60–61, 240n19; repletes, 57; reproduction of, 228; road building by, 11; seed harvesting by, 15; size of colonies, 15, 57; as stinger-free, 16; stridulation, 55; as superorganism, 17, 20, 31, 39; traffic patterns, 50–51, 52, 239n31; trunk trails of, 15, 24, 48–51, 82, 85, 141, 178; trunk trails, construction and maintenance of, 51–53, 54, 240n6; trunk trails, defense of, 54–55; variations among nests of, 225; weight carried by individuals, 64. See also mass foraging by marauder ants
market economy, 116, 120, 145, 223
Marx, Karl, 154, 156, 252n19
mass communication, 18, 227, 229, 235n9, 239n29
mass foraging: by Argentine ants, 211–212, 260nn20, 22, 23; defined, 23, 236n12 (ch. 1); by Leptogenys ants, 237n14, 240n14; by other animals, 31–33. See also foragers and foraging
mass foraging by army ants: attacking leafcutters, 243n4; avoiding clashes with other army ants, 97; avoiding/tracking raided areas, 82–85, 242n20, 243n25; catching small prey, 86, 243n1 (ch. 7); in column raiders, 29, 84, 100, 239n25; culling prey, 81, 242n19; vs. defense, 91; efficiency of, 241–42n7; in houses, 19; lack of, in Nigerian subs, 105–6; processing food on site, 97–98; vs. slow spreading process, 106–7, 245n22; whale trawling compared to, 145, 251n35. See also swarm raids
mass foraging by army ants and marauder ants, 22–23, 235n11 (ch. 1), 236nn12, 16; absence of scouts, 24, 29, 49, 56, 236n12 (ch. 2); absence of steadfast leaders, 34–35; cohesiveness, 31; lack of autonomy, 31; lack of destination, 30; lack of solitary foraging, 24, 34; mobility of group, 25–26; progress not requiring food, 29, 48; progress over untouched ground, 30, 48; proximity, 25; raids, evolution of, 59, 107–8, 240n14, 245n247; transplanted workforce, 27
mass foraging by marauder ants: catching small prey, 44; column raids, 29, 41, 48–49; eating in raid vs. nest, 63, 77, 242n11; efficiency of, 241–42n7; in houses, 19; individual autonomy, 30; pheromonal communication, 29, 30–31, 237nn13, 14; responsiveness to food distribution, 48–49; seed harvesting, 15, 45–47, 46; stray or lost ants, 24, 41; subduing prey, 15–16, 15, 26, 36, 39–41, 40, 44–45. See also carnivory; swarm raids
Matsigenka Indians, 131, 131
Mayan culture, 180, 183
McGlynn, Terry, 240n18
meadows, 134
mealybugs, 190
medias, defined, 5. See also polymorphism
medicine, ants as, 112
memory: navigation and, 138; trail traces and, 178
Messor barbarus, 34, 35
metapleural glands, 7, 192, 258n14
Miconia argentea, 194, 195
midden heaps: dead ants and, 74–75; group transport of items to, 65; of leafcutters, 171, 183, 188, 192– 93, 194; of marauder ants, 55, 57, 61; older workers tending to, 55; pellets from oral detritus pocket in, 188, 257n3; seeds sprouting in, 176, 207
migration: of Argentine ants, 210–11; of army ants, 59–60,