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Encyclopedia of Social Insects pp 39–41Cite as

Ant Mosaics

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Ant mosaics occur when two or more competitively dominant ant species show a nonoverlapping, checkerboard-like spatial distribution pattern within a forest or other habitat. Such a pattern was originally described by Room in 1971 [10] and termed an ant mosaic 2 years later by Leston [7]. Since then, ant mosaics have been studied across different continents and habitats. Among social insects, mosaic-like distribution patterns are not exclusive to ants and have been found for termites as well [6].

Ant colonies commonly vigorously defend their nest sites, and aggression against non-nestmates often extends well beyond the nest entrance, sometimes involving territorial exclusion of other ant species. As a result, competitively superior ant species with relatively large colonies and an aggressive behavioral dominance of other species are expected to mutually exclude each other from their territories. Ant species co-existing within the territories of dominant ants are regarded as...

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References

  1. Blüthgen, N., & Stork, N. E. (2007). Ant mosaics in a tropical rainforest in Australia and elsewhere: A critical review. Austral Ecology, 32, 93–104.

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  4. Fayle, T. M., Turner, E. C., & Foster, W. A. (2013). Ant mosaics occur in SE Asian oil palm plantation but not rain forest and are influenced by the presence of nest-sites and non-native species. Ecography, 36, 1051–1057.

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  8. Majer, J. D. (1976). The ant mosaic in Ghana cocoa farms: Further structural considerations. Journal of Applied Ecology, 13, 145–155.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

    Nico Blüthgen

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  1. Nico Blüthgen
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Correspondence to Nico Blüthgen .

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  1. Caura Village, Trinidad & Tobago

    Christopher K. Starr

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Blüthgen, N. (2021). Ant Mosaics. In: Starr, C.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28102-1_9

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