Abstract:
This thesis describes a study on the foraging ecology of the wood ant Formica rufa
Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) at Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire over the
period January 1994 to June 1996. Detailed observations were made on the foraging
behaviour during this period and the food supply of two colonies was experimentally
altered by food supplementation and food denial through grease-banding of trees within
a 50 m by 50 m area centred on the nest. The foraging areas of F. rufa colonies were
determined by observing trails to trees and showed seasonal variation. The size of the
foraging areas, their tree composition, the mean distance travelled by foragers and the
extent to which particular trees were repeatedly foraged were monitored. There was
stability in foraging areas between years due to colony persistence. Food
supplementation did not alter the foraging area of the nest. There was some evidence
that the extra resources were channelled into producing more sexuals. Food denial
caused the denied nest to expand its foraging area.
The amount of honeydew collected by F. rufa was experimentally determined. The
amount of prey taken was estimated from a survey of the literature. The proportion of
net primary productivity moved by a F. rufa colony across its foraging area was
estimated as 0.12 % to 0.47 %.
The effects of the distribution of F. rufa on other ground living invertebrates was
experimentally investigated. The presence of F. rufa was found to be significantly
negatively correlated with the presence of predatory Coleoptera and significantly
positively correlated with the presence of the myrmecophilous staphylinid beetle Zyras
humeralis (Gravenhorst).
The monitoring of the foraging areas and determination of the relationship between the
presence of F. rufa and other ecological groupings allows this work to be used to inform
the ETM framework, a proposal for spatially delineating ecosystems.
