SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION OF THE ANTS FORMICA-SUBSERICEA, F-NEOGAGATES, AND APHAENOGASTER-FULVA (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) IN CONNECTICUT

In a Connecticut forest, foraging distances were measured and nests of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) were located by following rewarded individuals back to their nests. Nests were also located by removing all forest litter within an area and counting numbers of ants per nest. Of the three most common species, Formica subsericea Say foraged further from its nest than did either F. neogagates Emery or Aphaenogaster fulva Roger. A computer-intensive nearest-neighbor analysis showed that nests are distributed without relation to other nests of the same or different species. Also, there was no consistent correlation between a nest's nearest neighbor and the combined size of both nests, but some ants appeared to avoid foraging in the same areas. At baits, F. subsericea was much more common than would be expected from its population density. The implications these results have for ant effectiveness as biological control agents are discussed.