Allometric scaling of metabolism, growth, and activity in whole colonies of the seed-harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus

• Published in: The American naturalist Vol. 176; no. 4; p. 501
• Main Authors: Waters, James S, Holbrook, C Tate, Fewell, Jennifer H, Harrison, Jon F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.10.2010
• Subjects: Animals; Ants - anatomy & histology; Ants - metabolism; Ants - physiology; Behavior, Animal; Body Size; Energy Metabolism; Locomotion; Models, Biological; Social Behavior

The negative allometric scaling of metabolic rate with body size is among the most striking patterns in biology. We investigated whether this pattern extends to physically independent eusocial systems by measuring the metabolic rates of whole functioning colonies of the seed-harvester ant Pogonomyrm...