Figure 1
Design of laboratory and field experiments for testing comparative food consumption by ants. (a) Photograph of an Eppendorf tube containing an aqueous nutrient solution retained by a piece of dental cotton wick, enabling ants to consume the liquid bait without spillage. (b) Bioassay container for carpenter ants, Camponotus modoc, fitted with 1.5-mL Eppendorf tubes containing aqueous nutrient solutions. Similar methodology was used for testing food consumption by European fire ants, Myrmica rubra41. Evaporation control tubes were placed on a small platform suspended from the container ceiling. (c) Eppendorf tubes affixed to a tree to test for preferential food consumption by C. modoc and black garden ants, Lasius niger. For field experiments with M. rubra and Formica aserva, Eppendorf tubes were placed on the ground.
