Kay et al RSPB-2013-2374 food intake in the colony level experiment

For this test, we used 16 colonies in June 2011 and 10 in January 2012. We assigned colonies (blocked by size as above) to the 1P:3C or 3P:1C diet, and removed larvae from half of the colonies in each treatment; we removed and returned larvae for control colonies. We reared colonies for 21 days. During the rearing period, we challenged colonies with Metarhizium by placing headless ant corpses covered in Metarhizium spores in each nest every 2 days.

本实验于2011年6月与2012年1月分别选取16个和10个蚁群作为实验材料。我们按照此前所述的体型分组标准，将蚁群分配至1P:3C或3P:1C两种日粮处理组中，并对每个处理组内半数蚁群移除其幼虫；对照组蚁群则执行幼虫移除后再放回的操作。我们将所有蚁群饲养21天。饲养期间，我们每2天将沾有绿僵菌（Metarhizium）孢子的无头蚂蚁尸体置入每个蚁巢，以此对蚁群开展攻毒处理。