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Spinning movements in the larvae of the ant, Formica fusca

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Abstract

It is known that no spinning of the ant cocoon can occur until sand grains, small pieces of wood, or other rubble have been placed over the larva by the queen or workers (Wheeler, 19i0). Since spinning occurs under this rubble pile, no observations seem to have been made in the way in which the cocoon is constructed. This paper describes the movement patterns involved in cocoon construction. Because of the difficulty of observation, the analysis of the movement patterns is based on data from relatively few larvae. Extensive data were collected from only three larvae, but short observations were made on many more which confirmed the description of the basic movement patterns.

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... Of larvae that did not successfully undergo metamorphosis, approximately 75% were eaten by nursing workers at varying developmental stages over the course of the experiment. The remaining non-surviving larvae were split between larvae that finished the cocoon spinning phase (Wallis, 1960) but did not complete metamorphosis and larvae that had ceased to grow by the end of the approximately 10-week experiment. ...
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Die steifen Streck-Bewegungen im Spinn-Zyklus verl~ingern die Zeitdauer dieser Phase
  • Form
Form. Die steifen Streck-Bewegungen im Spinn-Zyklus verl~ingern die Zeitdauer dieser Phase.
wodurch die Larven im Kokon umgedreht werden ; dadurch kSnnen sie im folgenden Zyklus Seide auf eine neue Fl~iche des Gespinsts abgeben. Der Drehwinkel variiert weitgehend, sein Mittelwert betragt jedoch 55--660. Die Drehrich-tung um die Liingsaehse ist sowohl die des Uhrzeigers
  • Drehbewegungen
Drehbewegungen erfolgea nach jedem Spinn-Zyklus, wodurch die Larven im Kokon umgedreht werden ; dadurch kSnnen sie im folgenden Zyklus Seide auf eine neue Fl~iche des Gespinsts abgeben. Der Drehwinkel variiert weitgehend, sein Mittelwert betragt jedoch 55--660. Die Drehrich-tung um die Liingsaehse ist sowohl die des Uhrzeigers, wie auch umgekehrt.