FIELD-STUDY ON THE FORAGING CHARACTERISTICS OF A PONERINE ANT, HAGENSIA-HAVILANDI FOREL

A field study of the foraging strategy used by the ponerine ant, Hagen sia havilandi is reported. They have permanent nests in the leaf litte r of coastal forests. H. havilandi is a diurnal forager and collects a variety of live and dead arthropods. These predatory ants exhibit ind ividual foraging with no cooperation in the search for or retrieval of food items. Three colonies were observed and showed similar temporal and spatial foraging patterns. The paths of individual ants were follo wed and the results showed that the foragers exhibit area fidelity, an d return to the nest via a direct route on finding on prey item. Sever al foragers did not return to the nest at dusk but returned the follow ing morning. Occasionally a limited amount of tandem recruitment was d isplayed.