Polyandry and fitness in the western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis.

Fifteen Years of Colony Dynamics in Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, the Western Harvester Ant, in Western Nebraska

Queen size mediates queen survival and colony fitness in harvester ants.

We examined the effect of queen size on the probability of new colony establishment in the ant Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. Large queens are significantly more likely to survive than small queens through the initial stages of colony founding. These differences in individual fitness correlates have corresponding effects on colony fitness. In species in which individual queens vary in fitness, sexu...

Running Head: Recruitment Limitation in Ant Populations RECRUITMENT LIMITATION AND POPULATION DENSITY IN THE HARVESTER ANT, POGONOMYRMEX OCCIDENTALIS

ECOLOGY AND POPULATION BIOLOGY Scale of Recruitment Limitation in the Western Harvester Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

We examined the scale of recruitment limitation in the western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis (Cresson). We measured colony density of 98 plots (0.25 ha) over an area of 500 ha. By applying an interpolation/extrapolation analysis to the spatial variability in colony density, we were able to accurately identify the location of two mating swarms. These two swarms were 1,400 m apart. Con...

Is a Corpse a Corpse? Spatial Aspects of Necrophoresis in the Western Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

Disease poses a threat to any society, and this threat is amplified for societies persisting in cramped quarters over extended periods of time. Highly social (eusocial) insects actively combat the danger of pathogen proliferation with a myriad of tactics, one of which is necrophoresis or the removal of corpses from the nest. This study examines the spatial patterns of the corpse depositions of ...