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Vol. 64, 2025
Behavioral Variation in Individual and Group Exploration of the Tropical Fire ant Solenopsis geminata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Li‑Chuan Lai1,* and Chorng-Bin Hsu1
doi:-
1Department
of Ecological Humanities, Providence University, 200, Sec. 7, Taiwan
Boulevard, Shalu Dist., Taichung City 43301, Taiwan. *Correspondence:
E-mail: lclai@pu.edu.tw (Lai)
E-mail: cbhsu@pu.edu.tw (Hsu)
(Received 18 October 2024 / Accepted 10 June 2025 / Published -- 2025)
Communicated by Jen-Pan Huang
In
social insects, variations in worker behavior at both individual and
group levels allow for rapid responses to environmental changes. The
individual and group exploration behaviors of the tropical fire ant Solenopsis geminata
were investigated in this study. Here we examined the time individual
workers spent exploring four different food items, the types of food
they discovered, and the dwell time (the duration spent on each food
item). We also examined whether individual variations in exploratory
behavior influence group-level exploratory behavior. In the individual
exploration assay, there were significant effects of nest and food on
the dwell time. The average exploratory time taken by workers in the
group exploration assay showed no significant difference between
experienced and inexperienced workers in Nest 1. However, a significant
difference was found between the groups in Nest 2. Here, observations
showed that S. geminata
workers in the group could find the food more quickly than individual
workers. Our work suggested that varying degrees of exploratory
behavior exist among individual workers and groups, which may
potentially impact foraging efficiency and resource utilization. The
tropical fire ant, S. geminata,
is a globally invasive species that has been introduced to Taiwan for
over 40 years. Incorporating an analysis of exploratory behavior into
the study of invasive species allows us to better understand the
mechanisms driving their progression.
Keywords: Solenopsis geminata, Behavioral variation, Exploration, Individual, Group
Citation: Lai LC, Hsu CB. 2025. Behavioral variation in individual and group exploration of the tropical fire ant Solenopsis geminata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zool Stud 64:35.
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