Territorial behavior and temperature preference for nesting sites in a pavement ant Tetramorium tsushimae

Abstract.

To determine how the territorial strategies affect reproductive success of the polygynous ant Tetramorium tsushimae in Japan, we investigated territorial behaviors and reproductive success of their colonies in the field. We found that most of the reproductives were produced largely by the colonies that hold large territories. We investigated the nesting site temperature preferences of the colonies. Colonies strongly preferred high temperature areas of 27.5 to 30 ^°C as the rearing sites of reproductives. Growth rates of reproductives were positively correlated with rearing temperature as have been reported in other ant species. It was suggested that the colonies secure the high temperature zone to gain the high reproductive success. Furthermore, most of the rearing sites of reproductives were located along the border between neighboring territories. It was suggested that the colonies might compete for the high temperature zone to increase their reproductive success and that this results in the larger territories with multiple nest sites.