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Desert ants on a thermal tightrope

Abstract

MANY animals restrict their foraging activities to certain times of the day or night, but the Saharan silver ant Cataglyphis bombycina is exceptional in that all foragers leave their underground nest in an explosive outburst confined to a few minutes per day during the hottest midday period. The foraging activity of this 'thermophilic' ant is compressed into a small thermal window by predatory pressure on the one hand and heat stress on the other.

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Wehner, R., Marsh, A. & Wehner, S. Desert ants on a thermal tightrope. Nature 357, 586–587 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/357586a0

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