![]() In many harvester ant species, foraging behavior is influenced by the weather. Positive feedback on foraging activity, from returning foragers with food, allows the colony to regulate its foraging activity according to the current costs of desiccation and the benefits based on current food availability. Harvester ants foraging in hot, dry conditions lose water, but obtain water from metabolizing fats in the seeds they eat. While the former has traditionally been recognized mainly as a mutualism, the latter is usually perceived as an antagonism. The two main mechanisms through which ants disperse seeds are myrmecochory, or seed dispersal mediated by the elaiosome, i.e., a lipid-rich seed appendage that mainly attracts non-granivorous ants and provides rewards for seed dispersal, and diszoochory, or seed dispersal performed by seed-harvesting ants that is not mediated by any particular seed structure. During the day, these ants search the savannas for vegetation and plant seeds, and carry them along back to their nest. Seed dispersal Īnts may play an important role in the dynamics of plant communities by acting either as seed dispersal agents or as seed predators, or both. In addition, ants provide soil aeration through the creation of galleries and chambers, mix deep and upper layers of soil, and incorporate organic refuse into the soil. Harvester ants increase seed dispersal and protection, and provide nutrients that increase seedling survival of the desert plants. ![]() Seed harvesting by some desert ants is an adaptation to the lack of typical ant resources such as prey or honeydew from hemipterans. They are also referred to as agricultural ants. Harvester ant, also known as harvesting ant, is a common name for any of the species or genera of ants that collect seeds (called seed predation), or mushrooms as in the case of Euprenolepis procera, which are stored in the nest in communal chambers called granaries. Red harvester ants are common and not endangered.Messor sp. Worker ants produced by the queen ant begin caring for other developing ants, enlarge the nest and forage for food. Larvae are white and legless, shaped like a crookneck squash with a small distinct head. Larvae hatch from eggs and developed through several stages (instars). After dropping her wings, the queen ant digs a burrow and produces a few eggs. Males soon die and females seek a suitable nesting site. Winged males and females swarm, pair and mate. In the evening, a few Pogonomyrmex barbatus workers will usually seal the nest entrance with gravel and twigs to keep nighttime intruders out of the nest. Their sting is quite painful and best avoided. They have a powerful sting which they are not shy about using. The main food source for red harvester ants usually consists of seeds, which they hoard in great numbers, hence their name. ![]() Red harvester ants are common in the southwest United States. Winged males and female swarmers are larger than worker ants. They have square heads and no spines on their bodies. Workers of the red harvester ant colonies have long bodies, 1/4 to 1/2-inch long, and range in color from red to dark brown.
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