• DOI:10.1038/434973A
Corpus ID: 4428574

Insect behaviour: Arboreal ants build traps to capture prey

@article{Dejean2005InsectBA,
  title={Insect behaviour: Arboreal ants build traps to capture prey},
  author={A. Dejean and P. J. Solano and J. Ayroles and B. Corbara and J. Orivel},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2005},
  volume={434},
  pages={973-973}
}

A. Dejean, P. J. Solano, +2 authors J. Orivel

Published 2005

Biology, Medicine

Nature

To meet their need for nitrogen in the restricted foraging environment provided by their host plants, some arboreal ants deploy group ambush tactics in order to capture flying and jumping prey that might otherwise escape. Here we show that the ant Allomerus decemarticulatus uses hair from the host plant's stem, which it cuts and binds together with a purpose-grown fungal mycelium, to build a spongy ‘galleried’ platform for trapping much larger insects. Ants beneath the platform reach through… CONTINUE READING

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