Data from: Context-dependent defences in turtle ants: resource defensibility and threat level induce dynamic shifts in soldier deployment

Nest Collection Data for Cephalotes rohweriData for nests of Cephalotes rohweri colonies collected in Tucson Mountain Park, Tucson AZ. Data include colony identity, nest identity, the number of workers and soldiers in each nest, and the area of each nest entrance.Cephalotes_rohweri_collection_data.csvNest Survival Experimental Data for Cephalotes rohweriData for the survival of experimental nests populated with Cephalotes rohweri ants and transplanted onto experimental trees. Data include the identity of each experimental tree, the entrance size of the experimental nest, how the nest was populated with ants, and the week the nest died within the 12-week experiment. Entrance size is coded as either B (big; 13 mm²) or S (small; 3 mm²). Nest population codes include entrance size (B or S) prefix, followed by the number of soldiers in the nest (0 for nests with no soldiers and 30 workers; 1 for nests with 1 soldier and 29 workers; 6 for nests with 6 soldiers and 24 workers). The week of nest death is coded as week number, and a – (dash) symbol is used for nests that remained alive at the end of the 12-week experiment.Cephalotes_rohweri_field_expt.csvDeployment Data from Lab Experiments with Cephalotes rohweriData for the deployment of ants and brood to new cavities that differ in entrance size and threat environment in laboratory experiments with Cephalotes rohweri ants. Data include the experimental colony, the threat environment, the position of each nest (acting as a nest identifier) within a 16-box experimental setup, entrance size, the treatment phase, and the worker, soldier, and brood populations of the nests. Treatment was either with no introduced ant threat (no_threat) or an introduced ant threat present (threat). Position of nest within each experimental setup was denoted by the number of the box within the 4x4 16-box experimental setup, with numbering running from left to right and top to bottom. Entrance size is coded as either a small entrance of an original nest (o_s; 3.0 mm²), a new nest with a small entrance (s; 3.0 mm²), or a new nest with a large entrance (l; 13 mm²). Treatment phase is either the initial setup phase (1_s) with a standardized number of original nests, or the phase after the introduction of new empty nesting cavities (2_a). Ant and brood population counts were either as numbers, or simply presence/absence (y/n) in the setup phase.Cephalotes_rohweri_lab_expt.csv