Ant foraging behavior: ambient temperature influences prey selection

Summary When prey of two sizes (6 and 32 mg) were offered in a choice situation to foragers of the ant Formica schaufussi at different ambient temperatures, significantly more workers rejected the smaller prey at low temperatures, whereas at high temperatures workers accepted the less profitable smaller item. Foragers scavenge for arthropod prey over a temperature range of 15–40°C, and increasing temperature significantly increases a forager's oxygen consumption, an index of energy expenditure.