Nomadic behavior of army ants in a desert-grassland habitat

1980 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Mirenda ◽  
Howard Topoff
Keyword(s):  
Desert Grassland ◽  
Army Ants

Predatory behavior and prey selection by army ants in a desert-grassland habitat

1980 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Mirenda ◽  
Doug G. Eakins ◽  
Karen Gravelle ◽  
Howard Topoff
Keyword(s):  
Prey Selection ◽  
Predatory Behavior ◽  
Desert Grassland ◽  
Army Ants

DIETS OF THREE COMMON GRASSHOPPERS (ORTHOPTERA: ACRIDIDAE) INHABITING DESERT GRASSLAND

1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 415-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Pfadt ◽  
J. A. Lockwood ◽  
T. M. Foppe
Keyword(s):  
Host Plants ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Bouteloua Gracilis ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Mixed Diet ◽  
Desert Grassland ◽  
Grasshopper Species ◽  
Erodium Cicutarium ◽  
A Site

AbstractExamination of crop contents of three species of grasshoppers in outbreak densities on desert grassland of eastern Arizona revealed that all three were ingesting a mixed diet of plants. Crops of nymphal and adult Aulocara elliotti (Thomas) contained an average of 67 and 93% dry weight of grass, respectively, placing this species in both the mixed graminivorous and the graminivorous categories. The preferred host plant of A. elliotti was Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. but it was not an essential item, as a large population developed in a site where this grass was virtually lacking but other perennial grasses were present. Crops of nymphs and adults of both Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius) and M. cuneatus Scudder contained chiefly forbs (88–100% of dry weight). The principal host plants were Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Hér., Lupinus brevicaulis Wats., Microsteris gracilis (Hook.) Greene, and Plantago purshii Roem. & Schult. Both species of Melanoplus fit into the forbivorous category and evidence indicated they were in competition with each other for food. All three grasshopper species showed preferences for particular plant species and as a consequence had significantly different frequencies of plant taxa in their crop contents from what were present in the field.

scholarly journals Spatial variation and mechanisms of leaf water content in grassland plants at the biome scale: evidence from three comparative transects

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruomeng Wang ◽  
Nianpeng He ◽  
Shenggong Li ◽  
Li Xu ◽  
Mingxu Li
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Leaf Water ◽  
Leaf Water Content ◽  
Desert Grassland ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
Grassland Plants

AbstractLeaf water content (LWC) has important physiological and ecological significance for plant growth. However, it is still unclear how LWC varies over large spatial scale and with plant adaptation strategies. Here, we measured the LWC of 1365 grassland plants, along three comparative precipitation transects from meadow to desert on the Mongolia Plateau (MP), Loess Plateau, and Tibetan Plateau, respectively, to explore its spatial variation and the underlying mechanisms that determine this variation. The LWC data were normally distributed with an average value of 0.66 g g−1. LWC was not significantly different among the three plateaus, but it differed significantly among different plant life forms. Spatially, LWC in the three plateaus all decreased and then increased from meadow to desert grassland along a precipitation gradient. Unexpectedly, climate and genetic evolution only explained a small proportion of the spatial variation of LWC in all plateaus, and LWC was only weakly correlated with precipitation in the water-limited MP. Overall, the lasso variation in LWC with precipitation in all plateaus represented an underlying trade-off between structural investment and water income in plants, for better survival in various environments. In brief, plants should invest less to thrive in a humid environment (meadow), increase more investment to keep a relatively stable LWC in a drying environment, and have high investment to hold higher LWC in a dry environment (desert). Combined, these results indicate that LWC should be an important variable in future studies of large-scale trait variations.

The Social Behavior of Army Ants

1972 ◽  
Vol 227 (5) ◽  
pp. 70-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard R. Topoff
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Army Ants ◽  
The Social
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