Volume 24, Issue 73, January - June, 2023

Using artificial light source as visual enhancement for predation by Oecophylla ants in Paren, Kalimpong, West Bengal

Soumyajit Chowdhury^♦

Department of Zoology, MUC Women’s College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India
ORCID: 0000-0003-0940-9809

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Zoology, MUC Women’s College, Burdwan, West Bengal, India
ORCID: 0000-0003-0940-9809

ABSTRACT

Worker ants of Oecophylla smaragdina Fab. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) were found to forage on non-biting midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) and dark-winged fungus gnats (Diptera: Sciaridae) that were attracted to artificial lights at night at Paren in Kalimpong district of West Bengal state, India. These diurnal ants were found to aggressively predate over the dipteran flies using artificial illumination to increase their visibility in order to recognise their prey at night, forming night-time trails between their nest and the artificially illuminated surface. In the present recorded event, artificial light at night has been found to entrain these diurnal ants to extend their foraging activity by desynchronizing their internal clock. This in turn disrupts their typical biological rhythms like foraging behaviour and related decisions, surprisingly resulting in maximising their feeding efficiency as well as the net rate of food energy intake.

Keywords: Artificial light, Nocturnal, Oecophylla, Asian weaver ant, Diptera, Foraging, Visual enhancement, Kalimpong, West Bengal

Species, 2023, 24(73), e40s1533

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v24i73/e40s1533

Published: 9 May 2023