Nutritional Ecology of Social Insects

Social insects such as ants, termites and some bees organise their colonies around collective nutritional needs that underpin growth, reproduction and ecosystem services. Nutritional ecology examines how these insects select, balance and process nutrients—proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and micronutrients—to optimise colony function. Foraging workers must navigate complex landscapes and seasonal shifts in resource availability, coordinating intake strategies that satisfy the divergent requirements of brood, workers and reproductives. Within the nest, stored reserves and trophallaxis distribute nutrients according to caste-specific demands, while physiological and behavioural feedbacks regulate foraging intensity and diet composition. Advances in experimental designs and theoretical frameworks have revealed how colonies maintain intake targets, tolerate imbalanced foods and prioritise nutrient blends to enhance survival, development and immunity. Insights from this field inform sustainable pest management, pollinator nutrition and habitat restoration by clarifying the nutrient cues and trade-offs that govern social-insect success across biomes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have dissected nutrient preferences and seasonality in foraging ants through controlled field and laboratory trials. By offering aqueous solutions enriched with specific macro- and micronutrients to model species, researchers have demonstrated that carpenter ants favour nitrogenous compounds and essential amino acids, whereas fire ants consistently prefer sucrose. These preferences remain stable across summer months, and the presence of a less-preferred nutrient does not diminish the appeal of a blend containing key attractants. Parallel assays across multiple species reveal that mixed baits with both sugars and amino acids elicit uniformly high consumption, suggesting practical applications for bait design in pest control and colony management.

Nutritional Ecology of Social Insects publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in nutritional ecology of social insects across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Nutritional geometry: A multidimensional analytical framework for studying how organisms balance intake of multiple nutrients simultaneously.

Macronutrients: Nutrients required in large amounts—proteins, carbohydrates and lipids—that provide energy and build tissues.

Intake target: The optimal combination and quantity of nutrients that an organism seeks to consume for maximal performance.

Claustral founding: A colony-establishment strategy in which founding queens rear the first brood entirely from internal nutrient reserves without external foraging.

Essential amino acids: Amino acids that animals cannot synthesise and must obtain directly from dietary sources.

References

1. Effects of macro- and micro-nutrients on momentary and season-long feeding responses by select species of ants. Scientific Reports (2024).
2. Using nutritional geometry to define the fundamental macronutrient niche of the widespread invasive ant Monomorium pharaonis. PLOS ONE (2019).
3. Going back to the basics: the use of cricket powder as a protein supplement in artificial ant diets. Insectes Sociaux (2024).
4. Claustral colony founding is limited by body condition: experimental feeding increases brood size of Lasius niger queens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (2023).