Some correlations between the foraging behavior of common nighthawks, Cbordeiles minor (Forester), and the swarming behavior of two species of ants, Atta texana (Buckley) and Iridomyrmex pruinosis (Roger)

Abstract

At about 5:30 AM, may 24, 1961, four Common Nighthawks, Chordeiles minor, were collected from a group of nearly a dozen feeding at low level along a roadside in Rapides Parish, west of Alexandria, Louisiana. Upon subsequent examination of the distended stomachs of these birds, it was found that approximately 70% of the contents consisted of winged reproductives of 2 species of ants, Atta texana (Buckley) and Iridomyrmex pruinosus (Roger). The swarming behavior of these 2 ants seems hitherto unreported in the literature.

Citation

Warter, Stuart L.; Moser, John C.; Blum, Murray S. 1962. Some correlations between the foraging behavior of common nighthawks, Cbordeiles minor (Forester), and the swarming behavior of two species of ants, Atta texana (Buckley) and Iridomyrmex pruinosis (Roger). Sciences, Vol. 25: 42-46