Seasonal Dietary changes in Ants – Issue #75

Hello Explorer,
Fruit and vegetables are seasonal, even though if you look in the market today one would not say that anything is seasonal. All fruit and many vegetables are bound to certain seasons, and until recently, you could only eat fruit and vegetables that were in season.
All of nature are still bound to eat whatever is in season, and with this comes seasonal changes in the diets of many vertebrates and invertebrates. One of the clearest and most obvious dietary chances that I have recently witnessed are the changes that ants undergo from summer to autumn.
The specific species that I have observed having seasonally bound dietary changes are Big Headed Ants (Pheidole sp.) and the Cautious Ants (Meranoplus sp.). The nest entrances of these species are usually inconspicuous and difficult to find in the veld. Late in summer and early autumn this, however, changes very quickly, as the ants change their diet.
During summer both these species will predate upon small insects and consume honeydew, and often even some nectar from flowers. As summer comes to an end all these food sources decrease in availability and collecting enough of it to feed the colony becomes a challenge if not impossible. Therefore, the ants are forced to shift to an alternate food source that can be easily collected and that can sustain the colony over winter.
At this time of the year something that is in great abundance are grass seeds, and the ants turn to this abundant resource to ensure the survival of the colony during winter. As the ants collect the seeds, they take the seeds inside the nest. Once inside the nest they will process the seed for storage by removing the husk and then putting all the seeds into storage chambers. The ants take the husks and throw them outside the nest, and this marks the nest entrance clearly making it very easy to find.
The ants will collect so many seeds that there will be a great surplus of seeds that they cannot finish. This surplus will be protected underground from fire damage, and once it starts raining in spring again these seeds will germinate, and the grass species will continue its existence.
Did you know that Ants, of all creatures are this smart that they change their diet to survive winter? What other animals do you know of that change their diet according to what is in season and what is available?

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