R code and Y-tube olfactometer data from: Floral and bird excreta semiochemicals attract western carpenter ants
Description
This data set described here is supplementary to a published paper titled: “Floral and bird excreta semiochemicals attract western carpenter ants”. Few studies have examined if ants use odours to locate food resources. Using Western carpenter ants, Camponotus modoc, as a model organism, we tested the hypotheses that ants would be generally attracted to all food resources (aphid honeydew, floral, carrion and animal (bird) excreta) tested. As floral resources have overlapping odourant chemicals in their odours, we further hypothesized ants would be attracted to shared semiochemicals between floral resources. The full methodology, results and their interpretation can be found in the publication.
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Steps to reproduce
The full description of the methodology can be found in "Floral and bird excreta semiochemicals attract western carpenter ants ". Here we describe them in brief: Using glass Y-tube olfactometers, we bioassayed the anemotactic responses of individual C. modoc workers. The ants were given 10 minutes and we would record the ant's first choice for either arm of the Y-tube. If the ant did not enter any arm of the Y-tube it was considered a non-responder ("nr"). Our data set shows the responses of individual ants to various test stimuli. Ants were scored as a "t" if they responded to the test stimuli or a "c" if they responded to the control stimuli. We additionally recorded the time of day, time at response (ttr), and the temperature for each replicate. We compared the first-choice responses of ants to control and treatment stimuli using a chi squared test to a theoretical 50/50 distribution of choices between arms.