Searching For Nature Stories 2018 The little world in corner: Lives of Polyrhachis Dives

Team R24

Pope Paul VI College 4A Cheung Zi Yan, Maggie Fung Ka Wing, Christine

Yuen Hiu Yin, Lily Yuen Pui Yan, Anson

Teacher advisor : Ms Lai

Content 1 Abstract 2 Introduction 2.1 Introduction to the research topic 2.2 Background information of Polyrthachis Dives 2.3 Research questions 2.4 Objectives 3 Materials and apparatus 3.1 Field study 3.2 Observations from field study 3.3 Experiments in laboratory 4 Procedure 4.1 Procedure of experiment A 4.2 Procedure of experiment B 4.3 Procedure of experiment C 5 Result 5.1 Result of observation on field study 5.2 Result of experiments in laboratory 6 Discussion 6.1 Discussion on field study 6.2 Discussion on experiment in laboratory 6.3 Extra findings 6.4 Discussion of errors 6.5 Further questions 7 Conclusion 8 Reference

1.Abstract

Polyrhachis Dives belongs to the genus Polyrhachis. The length of workers is around 15-25mm. Their nests can be found on the ground, within soil or upon the trees. The ants usually practise forages in the soil, low vegetation, rock and very seldom appear in human facilities. In this project, our objectives are to investigate the foraging behaviour and food preference of the ants. From the data collected in our experiments and field trips, we believe that other than Arthropods, they prefer natural watery sweets (e.g. fruits). Also, they don’t form routes as the ants we normally see. These ants move independently themselves. In addition, they prefer fructose from glucose and sucrose and they like 50% fructose the most.

2 Introduction

2.1 Introduction to the research Ants are observable everywhere around us but we seldom notice them or really familiar with them. They are small but very well-organised to practise foraging. We wonder how they can work together to search for food with such a large amount of members in a nest. In order to have a better understanding of ants, we choose to observe Polyrhachis Dives, that is a kind of ants common in Hong Kong. In this research, we investigate the food preference of Dives ( natural food / human food). We made Y-shape route box and put the natural food and human food into the two end of the box separately. 2.1.1 Variables of experiment A

The independent variables of experiment A : types of food (natural food and human food) The dependent variables of experiment A : frequency of approach the food for mins The control variables of experiment A : the distance between food substances and ants the size of the food substances

Then, we investigate which sugar thay like the most, fructose, glucose or sucrose. We dissolve the same amount of sucrose, fructose and glucose in water and put these 3 sugars in separate corner of the box with distilled water in the left corner. 2.1.2 Variables of experiment B

The independent variables of experiment B : Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Distilled water

The dependent variables of experiment B : Frequency of approach of the ants towards each . . type of sugar, time spent for food The control variables of experiment B : Amount of concentrated sugar, the size of the food substances, no. of ants

In advance, we investigate which concentration of fructose they like the most. We prepare fructose with concentration of 0%, 25%, 50% and 75%. We put the fructose with four different concentration in four corners in a box. 2.1.3 Variables of experiment C

The independent variables of experiment C : Different oncentrations of fructose (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%) The dependent variables of experiment C : Frequency of approach of the ants towards each . . concentration, time spent for food The control variables of experiment C : Volume of fructose solution, no. of ants

According to the website wiki.org, Polyrhachis Dives is classified as followings:

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Arthropoda

Class Insecta

Order Hymenoptera

Family Formicnae

Sunfamily Formicinae

Tribe Camponotini

Genus Polyrhachis

Species Polyrhachis Dives

Distribution Australasian Region, Indo-Australian Region, Oriental Region, Palaearctic Region

Figure1

(originated from wiki)

2.2 Objectives

● To observe how Polyrhachis vicina Dives forage ● To find out the preference of food among natural food and human food of them. ● To find out the concentration of fructose 0%, 25%, 50% or 75% that they prefer.

2.3 Research questions 1.What is the foraging pattern of Polyrhachis Dives

● Whether they forage as groups or as individual. ● The distance they travel to forage.

2. What food do they prefer?

● Which they prefer, human or natural, sweet, sour, bitter or spicy? ● Which food (fructose,glucose or sucrose) they prefer the most? ● Which concentrations of frutose ( 0%,25%,50%,75% ) they prefer the most?

3. Materials and apparatus

3.1 Field Study

Date Time Venue Details

Field observation

2018/6/24 11:00am- 12:00pm

School garden

-searching for the nest of the ants -observation of the foraging behaviour of ants

2018/6/27 -searching for the nest of the ants -observation of the foraging behaviour of ants

Field study

2018/7/1 9:30am- 1:00pm

-collection of ants for laboratory experiments -collection of mud, stores and vegetation

2018/7/5 -collection of ants for laboratory experiment -collection of mud, stones and vegetation

2018/7/14 -collection of the ants for laboratory experiments -collection of mud, stones and vgetation

2018/8/1 1:00pm- 4:00pm

Kwun Tong Promenade

- observation of wild ants - getting inspiration for the project statement

The field trips were carried out at our school garden, Pope Paul VI College, located in Shek Lei. During the field studies, we separated the field study into two parts, observation and collection. In the observation part, we searched for the nest of ants and carried out observation of ants in the garden. The movement and the travelling distance of ants were observed. In the collection part, we placed some glucose candies to attract the ants, so that we could collect an adequate amount of ants to carry out laboratory experiments. After the laboratory experiments, all the ants were released back to the school garden.

3.2 Observations of field study The observation aims to discover the foraging habit and the travelling scope of the ants. We would like to use some artificial set-up to distinguish the behaviour of them. 3.2.1 Artificial set-up In order to see the ants searching for food, we placed some glucose candies which the size is suitable for the ants to carry on the ground as the food for the ants to consume. This way can help us to find how they forage. Glucose candies were placed on location at different distances in the garden. It was for estimating how far the ants can travel to forage. This was a rough estimation but we can still find out an approximate range of activity of the ants by using this way.

3.3 Experiments in laboratory In total, three experiments were designed to investigate the food preference of the ants. We would like to see the preference of ants among sweet, sour, bitter and spicy food with both human and natural food. Also, the concentration of the composition of their food preference was investigated. 3.3.1 Experiment A Materials and apparatus

per group: forceps 4 Y-shape route box 1 Hand lens 1 stop watch 1 electronic balance 1

Banana 2 g Dextro Energy (glucose candy) 2 g Lemon 2 g Sour candy 2 g Bitter gourd 2 g Drk chocolate 2 g Chili 2 g Spicy dried fish 2 g

3.3.2 Experiment B Materials and apparatus

per group: forceps 4 16cm*16cm box with cover 1 hand lens 1 stop watch 1 electronic balance 1

Glucose 0.5g Fructose 0.5g Sucrose 0.5g Distilled water 0.5g Mud 1gx4

3.3.3 Experiment C Materials and aparatus

per group: forceps 4 16cm*16cm box with cover 1 hand lens 1 stop watch 1 electronic balance 1

25% concentrated fructose solution 1mL 50% concentrated fructose solution 1mL 75% concentrated fructose solution 1mL distilled water (0% concentrated fructose) mud 1gx4

4. Procedure

4.1 Procedure of experiment A 1.Place banana (2 g) and glucose candy (2 g) into the two end of the Y-shape route box separately. 2.Put 7 ants into another end of the Y-shaped route box. 3.Count the number of ants staying at each side (human and natural food) for 20th min. 4.Repeat steps 1-3 for sour (lemon v.s. sour candy), bitter (bitter melon v.s. dark chocolate) and spicy food (chili v.s. spicy dried fish).

4.2 Procedure of experiment B on objective 1 1.Prepare a 16cm*16cm squared box with mud and rocks inside. 2.Place 50% glucose, 50% fructose, 50% sucrose(each kind of sugar with 0.5g mixed with 0.5g distilled water and 1g mud) and distilled water ( mixed with 1g of mud) into the 4 corners of the box respectively. 3.Put ants in the middle of the box that have the same distance to the food sample. 4.Find out the frequency that the ants approach to each type of sugar and observe the time they spend on the food in 15 mins

4.3 Procedure of experiment 1.Prepare a 16cm*16cm squared box with mud and rocks inside. (for simulating the living environment) 2.Mix different concentrations of 1 mLfructose(0%,25%,50%,75%) all with 1g of mud respectively 3.Put those mixed fructose solution in the 4 corners of the box. 4. Put the ants in the middle of the box that the ants have the same distance with each food 5.Find out the frequency of the ants approaching the food and observe the time they spend on the food

5. Result

5.1 Result of observationin field study Based on our observations, Polyrhachis Dives practise foraging independently. Often, they don’t forage for food in groups. Also, their activity area is found to be possibly located within the school garden as only few glucose candies outside garden were consumed. So we assumed that the activity range of them is fixed in the garden.

5.2 Result of experiments in the laboratory 5.2.1 Result of experiment A Table 1

sweet sour

banana Glucose candy lemon sour candy

1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd

No. of ants for 20 mins

7 6 0 1 0 0 4 5

average 6.5 0.5 0 4.5

bitter spicy

bitter gourd dark chocolatte chili spicy dried fish

1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd

0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0

0 3 0 0

Table 2

sweet sour

banana Glucose candy lemon sour candy

1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd

Times of approach

7 7 4 6 2 0 10 8

average 7 5 1 9

bitter spicy

bitter gourd dark chocolatte chili spicy dried fish

1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd

1 1 7 5 0 0 1 0

1 6 0 0.5

5.2.2 Result of experiment B Table 3

Types of

monosaccharides

Time of approach of the ants towards each type of sugar

average

1st 2nd

Glucose (50%) 9 5 7

Fructose (50%) 16 14 15

Sucrose (50%) 13 8 10.5

Distilled water 16 5 10.5

Graph 1

5.2.3 Result of experiment C Table 4

Concentrations of frutose(%)

the time of approach average

1st 2nd

0 12 8 10

25 9 13 11

50 16 15 15.5

75 6 8 7

Graph 2

6. Discussion

6.1 Discussion of field trips By our findings, this kind of ants doesn’t form routes to forage. They are different from the ants we often see, which the normal ants form long routes to find food orderly. Based on our observation and field experiment, we found that the ants always take action independently. We couldn’t see any signs of them forming routes and finding food cooperatively. In contrast, each of the ants forages by themselves and so they carry the food back to the nest by themselves too. The scope of the activity of the ants is fixed in the school garden. As we found that the candies in different distances that were consumed were mainly located inside the garden. Meanwhile, the candies placed outside the garden were not visibly seen to be taken away. Based on the above findings, we believe that the ants don’t travel to the human area as the other types of ants we commonly see. 6.2 Discussion of laboratory experiments From the experiment, we can notice that there are 6.5 ants gathering around the banana in average while there are 0.5 ants in average gathering around the glucose candy. Based on our experiments, it is found that ants prefer natural food more than human food. Natural food is always more watery than human food.. This may be the reason for ants to prefer natural food more. Hence, watery food can be digest more easily. Also, human food may contain colouring, industrial chemicals etc. which are not found in the food that ants usually encounter. In this way, ants can take in water at the same time Also, among four tastes for natural food, the ants like sweet the best,for example, banana. For example, banana contains glucose, fructose and sucrose. Apart from aromatic smell of banana, banana contains glucose, fructose and sucrose. these carbohydrates can be used a source of energy.It is possibly the natural instinct causes ants to prefer eating sweet as monosaccharides and disaccharides are the nutrition that can rather be easily absorbed. Among glucose, fructose and sucrose, it is found that ants love fructose the best. This may be due to fructose is the sweetest among these three carbohydrates. As a result, we can conclude that ants prefer sweeter food and it may be related to energy provided by sweeter

food is more. So that, ants can obtain the largest energy from the smallest size of food sample. Among 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% concentrations of fructose, the ants prefer 50% concentration the most. This is because the state of 50% concentration is relatively watery and contains adequate amount of fructose,. The ants can absorb water during eating 50% concentration of fructose and therefore they prefer 50% concentration of fructose the most. 6.3 Extra findings During our field trip, we observed that the productivity and activity of ants will be lower during the rainy day. In contrast, ants will go out and take up the food more frequently on a sunny day and after raining. This may be because ants are scary to excessive water and they may be dying because of flooding. So, they are seldom working during raining. During the experiment B and C, this is found that the ants would drink water after consuming sugar. The reason behind may be sugar will make ants feel thirsty or they need water to transport the nutrients that just obtain throughout their body. Besides, we discovered that the bodies of ants would bend when they nearly die or dead. When they have the sense that they are going to die, they would find a corner to hide. It is also noticed that the other pismire would awake the dead ants. 6.4 Error Experiment A The route may be too long, so that the food are too far from the ants and they may not smell the food. AS a result, food with strong smell may easily attract the ants approaching. Experiment B&C The solution may evaporate during the experiment, so that the amount of each solution may not be the same. The degree of hunger of ants cannot be measured. In the experiment, they may deny to eat the food because of being full. 6.5 Further Question 1. How does humidity affect ant’s level of activity? 2. How does light intensity affect ant’s level of activity?

7. Conclusion

After the observations and experiments towards, we found that Polyrhachis Dives forage individually and seldom step outside the garden. They also prefer natural and sweet food. Among glucose, fructose and sucrose, these ants prefer 50% fructose the most.

8. Reference

http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Polyrhachis_dives (Antwiki) http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Polyrhachis_vicina (Antwiki) http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Polyrhachis_vicina (CUHK) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sucrose-glucose-fructose (Healthline) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana (Wiki)