Abstract
The workers ofPachycondyla caffraria attack the nests of the termiteMicrocerotermes sp. in the laboratory. The hunter workers bore into the side of the nest, enter and catch the termites, and return to their nest with the captured prey. Later in the same day, all or part of the colony moves out and settles in the termite nest. The hunter workers use tandem running for the attack of the termite nest, the capture of termite and the removal of the colony to the nest which was raided. To analyse the relevant signals for the following ant during tandem running, we offered different dummies to followers which had been separated from their leader ants. The signals which release the following behaviour are a conbination of visual and chemical signals. Seventy percent of motivated followers reacted positively to paper with methanolic extract of the leader ant, 44% of motivated followers reacted positively to an odourless paper, and 100% reacted positively to a freshly killed leader ant. The leading effect of the body surface is lost by cleaning with solvents of different polarity.
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Agbogba, C. Settlement in the prey termite nest by the ponerine antPachycondyla caffraria (Smith), and tandem running signal analysis for the following ant. J. Ethol. 10, 133–137 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350117
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350117