A Preliminary Study on Dietary Habits of Ants in a Bornean Rain Forest

In a Bornean rain forest, we conducted food preference tests with 11 arboreal and 8 ground ant species (26 colonies), which belonged to the genera Leptogenys, Odontoponera, Gnamptogenys, Aenictus, Cataulacus, Crematogater, Dolichoderus, Oecophylla, Camponotus, and Polyrhachis. Three types of food (honey solution, cheese and dead insect) were offered to foraging ants on trail. In five species, solid particles carried by returning workers were picked up near the nest entrance, and identified in the laboratory. Food preference tests indicated that all arboreal ants except Crematogaster sp. 2, which was a resident of Macaranga winkleri trees, accepted soild protein food (cheese and dead insects). Observations at the nest entrance, however, showed that animal items were scarcely or never carried to the nest. In at least some species, insects offered to foraging workers were not carried to the nest, but sucked of their body fluid at the sites where they were placed. In all the ground ants studied, including Aenictus spp., the acceptance of honey solutions was observed.