Data from Binning et al. In revision (antlions)

We studied pit construction by antlion larvae, Myrmeleon acer, and the behaviour of Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, an important prey of M. acer , at the Australian National University Kioloa Coastal Campus, New South Wales, Australia (latitude 35º32’ S longitude 150º22’ E, 10 m elevation) in April 2013.We measured the diameter of pits constructed by antlion larvae in the wild with callipers. We captured and placed each antlion in a separate, labelled container, and measured their head width using dissecting microscopes fitted with granicules. In total, we obtained pit diameter and head size estimates from 133 wild antlions. We tested ant response to dead conspecifics around antlion pits using artificial pits. We set up 80 plastic enclosures (9 cm X 12 cm; diameter X height) filled 6 cm high with sand. An “encounter zone” was lightly etched around each pit using a 4 cm diameter cylinder of cardboard. The experiment consisted of four treatments with 20 replicates of each. Treatment 1: 2-3 day old ant carcasses (‘old carcasses’) were placed around the pits. Treatment 2: < 12 h old ant carcasses (‘fresh carcasses’) were placed around the pits. Treatment 3: ant-sized pieces of Eucalyptus bark (‘bark control’) were placed around the pits. Treatment 4: no objects were around the pits (‘clear pit’). Each treatment replicate had two observers, who were not blind to the treatments. Intra- and inter-observer reliability was high. For treatments 1-3, we placed three of the objects in an equilateral triangular around the edge of the pit, just within the encounter zone to standardize the chance that live ants would encounter the objects when approaching from any direction. For each replicate, we dropped one live ant at the edge of the round container, and recorded the ant’s behaviour with a stopwatch for 3 min. We recorded: a) the time (s) taken for the ant to first enter the encounter zone; b) the number of times the ant entered the encounter zone; c) the total time (s) the ant spent in the encounter zone; d) the time (s) taken to first fall into the pit; and e) the total number of times each ant fell into the pit. For treatments 1-3 (ants and bark) we also recorded f) the number of interactions the ant had with the objects placed around the pit, defined as the ant directly bumping into or stopping to inspect an object.

本研究于2013年4月在澳大利亚新南威尔士州澳大利亚国立大学基奥阿海岸校区（坐标：南纬35°32′，东经150°22′，海拔10米）开展，旨在探究Acer蚁狮（Myrmeleon acer）幼虫的陷阱筑造行为，以及其重要猎物阿根廷蚁（Linepithema humile）的相关行为。我们使用游标卡尺（callipers）测量野外Acer蚁狮（Myrmeleon acer）幼虫所筑陷阱的直径。将捕获的每头蚁狮单独放置于带有标签的容器中，并使用配备测微标尺（granicules）的解剖显微镜测量其头宽。最终我们共获取了133头野外Acer蚁狮幼虫的陷阱直径与头宽测量数据。我们通过人工蚁狮陷阱，测试了阿根廷蚁对蚁狮陷阱周边同种死虫的行为响应。具体搭建方案如下：80个塑料饲养盒（尺寸：9cm×12cm，即直径×高度），盒内装入高度为6cm的细沙；使用直径4cm的硬纸板圆筒，在每个陷阱周围轻轻勾勒出一块“接触区域”。本实验共设置4组处理，每组设置20次重复。处理1：将放置2~3天的蚂蚁尸体（“陈旧尸体组”）置于陷阱周边；处理2：将放置时长不足12小时的蚂蚁尸体（“新鲜尸体组”）置于陷阱周边；处理3：将尺寸与蚂蚁相当的桉树皮（“树皮对照组”）置于陷阱周边；处理4：陷阱周边不放置任何物体（“空白对照组”）。每组重复实验均由两名非盲法观察者进行记录，观察者内部与观察者间的信度均较高。针对处理1至3，我们将3个测试物体以等边三角形布局放置在陷阱边缘、恰好处于接触区域内，以标准化活蚁从任意方向接近时接触到物体的概率。每次重复实验中，我们将1头活蚁放置在塑料盒的边缘，并用秒表记录该蚂蚁3分钟内的行为，记录指标包括：a）蚂蚁首次进入接触区域的耗时（单位：秒）；b）蚂蚁进入接触区域的总次数；c）蚂蚁在接触区域内的总停留时长（单位：秒）；d）蚂蚁首次掉入陷阱的耗时（单位：秒）；e）每头蚂蚁掉入陷阱的总次数。针对处理1至3（蚂蚁尸体与树皮组），我们额外记录了指标f）蚂蚁与陷阱周边测试物体的交互次数，定义为蚂蚁直接碰撞物体或停下对物体进行探查的行为。