Meeting Abstract
Cooperatively foraging species often adjust their search strategies in complex environments to efficiently find and exploit food sources. These strategies become more complicated when food and risk can be simultaneously present and when they differ in predictability. This study examines how colonies of Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) learn and respond to negative features of their environments, when potential paths to food differ in the cues that indicate the presence of risk. These cues are either a live competitor (velvety tree ants, Liometopum occidentale (LO)) or formic acid (FA), a defensive chemical commonly associated with formicine ant species. The two types of stimuli elicited significantly different behavioral responses, both in path use and time to find food across days. Specifically, L. humile were attracted to paths with LO but avoided FA. The intensity of these responses changed over time. The response to FA was constant while the response to LO declined. Further, L. humile colonies that were exposed to LO cues were faster at finding food across days compared to colonies exposed to FA. Thus, it appears that L. humile foragers assess and respond to features of their environment in order to adopt a successful foraging strategy .
