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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following species of ants performed poorest during a study of group transportation?

2. Of all the landscapes explored in the opening of this novel, which landscape has the highest density of ants per hectare?

3. What is considered the final stage of a mature ant colony?

4. What is another way of defining pheromonal communication?

5. Where do sweat bees primarily burrow?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Wilson argue the Paleozoic Era changed insects?

2. What study was performed on fire ants leading to the understanding the foragers will respond to the nutritional needs of their colony?

3. How have leafcutter ants altered the landscape in which they live?

4. Why is communication between ants important during transportation?

5. What happens during the founding stage of an ant colony?

6. How did the study of swallows affect the way scientists viewed spatial distribution?

7. What are the most common ways through with an ant colony becomes polygynus?

8. What is acoustic communication? How is it achieved within an ant community?

9. How do ant colonies succeed in securing true slavery?

10. What happens during the ergonomic stage of an ant colony?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

All ant colonies function with an intricate caste system for labor. Explain the various castes that each colony needs to survive. Explain the role of major and minor players within these castes. How do their roles vary? Finally, explain how an individual ant can move up in the hierarchy of this caste system.

Essay Topic 2

Many field studies have been done in regards to the symbiotic relationships ants have with their own, and alien species in the wild. Explain how a symbiotic relationship is defined. Give one example of a symbiotic relationship between differing ant species. Finally, give at least one example of a symbiotic relationship between and ant and alien species in the wild.

Essay Topic 3

Ants in the text have various types of nests they live in and build. Create a list of nest making strategies discussed in the text. Choose the nest making strategy you find most interesting, and describe it in as much detail as possible. Finally, explain the motivations behind this nest making strategy. Why does this particular ant species build this particular type of nest?

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This section contains 909 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample