INTERSPECIFIC TRAIL FOLLOWING AND COMMENSALISM BETWEEN THE PONERINE ANT GNAMPTOGENYS MENADENSIS AND THE FORMICINE ANT POLYRHACHIS RUFIPES

Gnamptogenys menadensis (subfamily Ponerinae) foragers use chemical tr ails to home to their nests. Although prey capture and retrieval are g enerally performed solitarily, trails seem to enhance foraging to area s rich in prey or to sugar sources, Trail laying and following are mos t conspicuous during nest migration. These trails are laid down by tap ping the sting onto the substrate. In laboratory tests, only extracts from the Dufour's gland were readily followed. Workers of Polyrhachis rufipes (Formicinae) use the trails of G. menadensis to gain access to otherwise nonavailable sugar sources. When they encounter Gnamptogeny s foragers, P. rufipes workers show, a typical aggressive antennal box ing, to which Gnamptogenys reacts with a submissive behavior. This is the first report of commensalism between a ponerine and a formicine an t.