Density and distributional patterns of seed harvester ant Messor aciculatus
and the seasonal moving behavior of castes in natural nest.
Author of the article:CHANG You-De1，HE Da-Han2
Author's Workplace：(1 Institute of Zoology， Chinese Academy o
f Sciences，Beijing 100080,China; 2. Department of Agronomy，Ningxia Agricul
tural College，Ningixia 750105，China).
Key Words：distribution and density of colony; seasonal dynamics; seasonal moving patterns;Messor aciculatus;desert ecosystem;
northwest China
Abstract：Messor aciculatus(F. Smith) is a seed harvester dom
inant ant in the desert steppe ecosystem of northwest China. It harvests more th
an 10 kinds of plant seeds. Colonies are divided into sma
ture, developing and new according to their abandoned foo