ABSTRACT
Many studies on the organization of insect societies have demonstrated the existence and significance of individual differences in behavior among colony members. Primary patterns of task performance by age- or size-related worker subgroups are well documented in the literature. This chapter describes the results of studies on differences in search behavior among workers of the ant Formica schaufussi Mayr, and shows how individual experience and food resource-related modification of search patterns may contribute to a worker's search tactics. It provides evidence supporting the hypothesis that foraging behavior may result from ecologically correlated behavioral predispositions and resource-related experiential processes, the relationship of search persistence and resource persistence requires further consideration. Workers of the ant Formica schaufussi show variation in several components of foraging behavior. Foragers leave the nest in different directions and travel up to 40 n before beginning area-restricted search.
