Re: Are there any species of ants which are strictly nocturnal?

Date: Sun Sep 12 15:22:02 1999
Posted By: Rob Campbell, Oceanography, University of British Columbia
Area of science: Zoology
ID: 935676218.Zo

Message:

Hi Tojo-

That's a good question- I've found some references on noctural ants:

at the Urban Entomology site, which has a list of common pest species, some of which are nocturnal

Smithistruma schulzi, at Evergreen College

So, the short answer to your question is yes. As to why some ants might be nocturnal, it is certainly possible that they need to "rest" as stated in an earlier MADSCI response ( Re: ants and sleep ; which I presume is the one you're talking about). Another good reason to be nocturnal is that one can avoid visual predators (birds, mice or lizards, for instance- all are known to eat insects), and it's never fun to be predated. Being nocturnal is fairly common in animals that don't require vision to feed (among other things)- many herbivores are nocturnal.

Hope that helps!
Rob Campbell, MAD Scientist

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