Adapting to Uncertainty: Foraging Strategies in Dinoponera quadriceps (Formicidae: Ponerinae).

Simple Summary: We conducted an investigation into the foraging behavior of Dinoponera quadriceps, which is an ant species that forages solitarily. The ants were subjected to a range of foraging scenarios that included varying distances to food sources, differing prey sizes, and varying capture success rates. The findings revealed that these ants display a significant preference for returning to previously successful foraging sites, irrespective of the distance, prey size, or reward rate. Conversely, in instances where the ants were unsuccessful in capturing prey, they exhibited a heightened tendency to explore new foraging areas. When searching for food, animals often make decisions about where to go, how long to stay in a foraging area, and whether to return to the most recently visited spot. These decisions can be enhanced by cognitive traits and adjusted based on previous experience. In social insects, such as ants, foraging efficiency has an impact at both the individual and colony levels. The present study investigated the effect of the distance to, capture success, food size, and the reward rate on decisions of where to forage in Dinoponera quadriceps, a ponerine ant that forages solitarily and makes individual foraging decisions, in laboratory studies. We also investigated the influence of learning on the workers' performance over successive trips to search for food by measuring the patch residence time in each foraging trip. Four scenarios were created that differed in the food reward rates, the food size offered, and the distances from the colony to the food site. Our work demonstrated that as a general rule, the D. quadriceps workers return to the place where a prey item was found on the previous trip, regardless of the distance, food size, and reward rate. When the ants did not capture prey, they were more likely to change their route to search for food. Our results also indicated a learning process for the routes of exploration, as well as the food site conditions for exploration. After repeated trips, the foragers reduced the patch residence time in areas where they did not capture food and quickly changed foraging areas, increasing their foraging efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]