Social and Individual Processes of Prey Selection in Ants

研究蚂蚁的行为组织和生态学的意义不可低估。在某些栖息地，蚂蚁占动物总生物量的30%，是其他无脊椎动物，特别是昆虫的重要捕食者。在热带和温带，它们在将表土带到地表方面都很重要。蚂蚁包括一组社会昆虫，其行为和生态对人类相当重要，并且因为它们是其他昆虫的重要捕食者，它们在农业实践中具有重要的经济意义。非洲和亚洲常见的织蚁是有效的生物防治剂。欧洲的木蚁捕食各种各样的害虫，并已成功地引入美国的控制计划。由于一个蚁群中有大量的工蚁（有时超过100万只），蚂蚁能够在大面积上发挥它们的捕食作用。特拉尼洛博士的研究将集中在北美数量最多、生态上占主导地位的蚂蚁群体之一。拟研究的物种捕食经济上重要的昆虫，在农业环境中很常见。对它的生物学知之甚少。了解其社会适应性是了解其经济潜力的基础。如何选择猎物的信息是必要的，以了解这些蚂蚁捕食的害虫的范围和对害虫种群的影响。从这个角度来看，一种极其重要的社会活动是觅食。觅食包括搜索行为，其社会调节，沟通，以及环境对这些特征进化的影响。这些行为的实验研究，强调其生态意义是必要的，以充分评估潜在的使用蚂蚁作为捕食者在农业生态系统。Traniello博士的研究还使用蚂蚁作为模型系统，以了解早期社会经验和年龄对行为的影响。此外，它将有助于理解环境如何限制动物的学习能力。从这项研究中得出的原则可能适用于其他动物系统，包括脊椎动物，因此将促进我们对这些现象的普遍理解。

The significance of studying the behavioral organization and ecology of ants cannot be underestimated. In some habitats, ants comprise up to 30% of the total animal biomass, and are important predators of other invertebrates, especially insects. In both the tropics and temperate zone they are important in bringing topsoil to the surface. Ants comprise a group of social insects whose behavior and ecology is of considerable importance to man, and, because they are important predators of other insects, they can be of great economic importance in agricultural practices. Weaver ants, common in Africa and Asia, are known to be effective biological control agents. Wood ants in Europe prey on a wide variety of pest insects, and have successfully been introduced into the United States in control programs. Because of the large number of workers in a single colony (sometimes greater than 1,000,000) ants are able to exert their predatory effects over large areas. Dr. Traniello's research will focus on one of the most abundant, ecologically dominant groups of ants in North America. The species to be studied preys on economically important insects, and is common in agricultural situations. Little is known of its biology. An understanding of its social adaptations is fundamental to understanding its economic potential. Information on how prey are selected is necessary in order to appreciate the range of pests that these ants prey on and the effect on the pest populations. One social activity that is extremely important in this light is foraging. Foraging includes search behavior, its social regulation, communication, and the influence of the environment on the evolution of these traits. An experimental study of these behaviors emphasizing their ecological significance is necessary to fully evaluate the potential use of ants as predators in agroecosystems. Dr. Traniello's study also uses ants as a model system to understand the effect of early social experience and aging on behavior. Furthermore, it will contribute to an understanding of how the environment may constrain an animal's learning ability. The principles derived from the study may be applicable to other animal systems, including vertebrates, and will therefore foster our understanding of these phenomena in general.