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Adventures Among Ants - Mark W. Moffett [209]

By Root 545 0
oral detritus pocket, 188, 192, 196, 257n3, 258n17; as universal requirement of superorganisms, 230. See also midden heaps

sap drinking: leafcutter ants, 172, 175, 181, 186; non-dominant ants and, 246n33; weaver ants, 118–19

sap-sucking insects. See Homoptera farming

Savage, Reverend Thomas, 59

scale insects. See Homoptera farming

scent and identity. See group identity

Schneirla, Theodore, 77, 239n32

Schöning, Caspar, 73, 74, 95, 98

scorpions, 68–69, 117, 117

scouts: Amazons, 159–61, 162–63, 253n8; defined, 19, 236n14; leafcutters, 178; Leptogenys, 19, 34; Pachycondyla, 159. See also recruitment

seeds: for ant gardens, 121–22, 247n3; Argentine ant as destructive to, 207, 207; army ants and, 243n8; dispersal of by ants, 22, 195, 207; elaiosomes, 207, 243n8, 256n68; granivory, 238n18; grass, 45–47, 46; leafcutters and, 182, 194–95, 256n68; marauder ants and, 15, 41, 45, 46, 47, 48; Pheidologeton affinis and, 106, 107; repletes and, 57

self-interest, 35, 248n30, 251n38, 262n29, 264n32

self-reliance, in small societies, 69, 223

self-sacrifice, 42, 126–27, 223, 248n30, 251n2. See also risk taking

seminomadism, 211

“series parallel” operations, 251n37. See also redundancy of operations

Shanahand, Jill, 204–5

shock and awe. See rapid dominance

silk, for nest making, 113, 114, 124

Silverman, Jules, 213

Singapore and Singapore Botanic Gardens, 21–30, 36, 38, 42, 45–49, 55–56, 56–57

sit-and-wait. See lie-in-wait foraging strategy

size frequency distribution of castes, 38–39, 238n5, 240n6, 244n10

size matching, 41, 99–100, 180–81, 244n10

size of ant: advantages of being small, 144, 145, 146; and brainpower, 116, 144, 251n34; complexity and, 116; and energy required to walk, 14; matching with size of cut leaf, 171–72, 180–81, 254n10; matching with size of prey, 41, 99–100, 180–81, 244n10; size frequency distribution, 38–39, 238n5, 240n6, 244n10; spectrum of, 143–44, 145–46; variation in, as ideal for large colonies, 145–46; and weight capacity of individuals, 65–66. See also polymorphism

size of larva, caste determined by, 9

size of society: aggressiveness increasing with, 202; complexity and, 116, 223, 226–27; discord within society and, 228–29; division of labor and, 146, 187, 222, 223, 226–27; of Dorylus laevigatus, 102; error, tolerance of, 86, 145, 227; extremist defenses and, 127–28; group transport and, 69–70; homeostasis and, 78; individuality and, 222; infrastructure and, 51, 223; leafcutter ants, 172–74; marauder ants, 15, 57; market economy and, 223; mortality in swarm raids and, 36, 238n33; of nondominant ants, 129; perimeter defense and, 128; range of sizes, 9; redundancy of operations, 44–45, 145, 146, 223, 225, 227, 251n37; risk taking and, 223; tempo of life and, 44, 78, 145, 223; territoriality and, 122–23, 128, 223; variation in individual size as ideal, 145–46; warfare and, 122–23, 128, 129, 223, 248nn27, 30; weights of, 144. See also population; superorganisms

slavemaking ants. See Amazon ants; Protomognathus americanus

slaves and slavery: Argentine ants, 260n10; birds and, 155, 252n247; delayed gratification and, 167–68, 253nn17, 18; evolution of ant slavery, 164–67, 253nn9–12; honeypot ants, 165, 253n12; human slavery, 154, 155–56, 165, 252nn19, 21, 23; imprinting on slaveholder, 154, 155, 215, 252nn19, 24; mutiny, 154, 252n18; naturalistic fallacy and, 156; primates and, 155, 156, 252nn21, 23; pupae as key to, 165–66, 167; slaves as term, 154, 155–56, 252n21; sustenance and slave raiding as linked, 166–67; Teleutomyrmex schneideri, 157. See also Amazon ants; Protomognathus americanus

slime molds, 32

small societies: group transport less likely in, 63, 69; identification of individuals in, 222; infrastructure in, 51; as labor generalists, 39, 43, 69, 78; of non-dominant ants, 129; smallest known, 9; tempo of life in, 44, 86. See also hunter-gatherers; size of society

smart mobs, 225

Smith, Adam, 70

Smith, Mary, 37–38

social insects, 9, 234n4, 257n85. See also cannibalism

social organization: egalitarian, 225; group transport and, 63; humans compared to ants, 222–25, 228–29, 262n29,

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