Colony structure and spatial partitioning of cavity dwelling ant species in nuts of eastern US forest floors

Nut-bearing trees create islands of high efficiency, low cost housing opportunities for ant colonies. Fallen nuts in leaf litter from previous seasons provide ready-made nest sites for cavity dwelling ant species, as well as affording protection from the elements. Suitable nuts for nests require an entrance of some type, which may be a simple crack in the shell, or in many cases an emergence hole created by late instar coleopteran and lepidopteran larvae known to consume the protein rich nut. With over 30 species of southeastern hickories, pecans, chestnuts, walnuts, and oaks; large numbers of suitable nut cavities created by insect feeding; and variation in intraspecific and interspecific nut productivity and nut size; the possible variations of potential nut nesting sites are extensive. A dearth of information is available on colony structure, environmental parameters affecting choices for suitable nest selection sites, negative effects of restricted colony sizes to confined sizes of nuts, and spatial partitioning for nut/cavity inhabiting ant species. Our study aims to answer these basic questions. We collected potential nut-nests from various nut bearing tree species in Maryland, Mississippi, and Georgia. We identified and defined individual trees as a site, took environmental measurements to compare sites, and collected nuts at each site. Thus far in our preliminary studies, we collected 19 species of ants using nuts as nesting cavities. We will present quantitative environmental data and the results of our analyses to determine whether patterns we found are due to colony founding or environmental preference.