Size variability in the worker caste of a social insect (veromessor pergandei mayr) as a function of the competitive environment

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Publication Type Journal Article
School or College College of Science
Department Biology
Creator Davidson, Diane W.
Title Size variability in the worker caste of a social insect (veromessor pergandei mayr) as a function of the competitive environment
Date 1978
Description Worker size polymorphism in colonies of Veromessor pergandei, a granivorous desert ant, is inversely related to the intensity of interspecific competition in the habitat for seven ant communities in the deserts of southern California and southern Arizona. Seed size preferences are positively correlated with worker body sizes, and diet breadth relative to seed size is probably enhanced by colony polymorphism . Niche shifts within colonies of these social insects may permit unusually fine adaptation to the resource environment. In contrast to solitary organisms, for which generalization of the diet may imply significant trade-offs, these ants may expand their utilization of resources where competitors are absent while retaining an efficient size match to the distribution of available resources.
Type Text
Publisher University of Chicago Press
Volume 112
Issue 985
First Page 523
Last Page 532
Subject Ants; Arizona; California; Coexistence; Communities; Density specialization; Desert granivores; Foraging strategies; Resource partitioning; Size
Subject LCSH Ants; Granivores; Desert ecology
Language eng
Bibliographic Citation Davidson, Diane W. (1978). Size variability in the worker caste of a social insect (veromessor pergandei mayr) as a function of the competitive environment, American Naturalist, 112 (985), 523-532.
Rights Management (c) University of Chicago Press http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/loi/an
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 548,112 Bytes
Identifier ir-main,4411
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Setname ir_uspace
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Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6bc4gz8
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