Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.g4f4qrg3d

Description of the data and file structure

This study was conducted to assess the dietary preferences of W. auropunctata across protein-lipid-, carbohydrate-, and lipid-rich foods using two complementary approaches: a visitation frequency assay, where ant visitation to each food over time was recorded; and a foraging duration assay, where ant activity was video-recorded and analyzed using Noldus EthoVision software to quantify the cumulative duration spent foraging. Wasmannia auropunctata workers used in this study were collected from three field sites (> 1 km apart) on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. For each food preference comparison, ants were freshly collected 24 hours before the experiment and starved for 24 hours to standardize foraging motivation. This protocol ensured the use of active foragers while minimizing potential behavioral shifts associated with long-term laboratory acclimation. To reduce potential bias introduced by prior food exposure, ants were collected by gently brushing foraging workers directly into collection containers, without the use of food-based lures commonly employed in ant sampling techniques.

Files and variables

This dataset shows the food preference behavior of the little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata) in Hawaiʻi.  The dataset is presented in two files,

1. Visiting Frequency Assay:  Contains the number of ants recorded visiting different food types at specified timepoints.
2. Foraging duration Assay: Contains the cumulative duration for each food type, as obtained from Noldus EthoVision software.

File: Visitation_Frequency_Assay-Data.csv

Variables

• Food Category: Nutritional Category of food item, classified as protein-lipid-, carbohydrate-, or lipid-rich.
• Group: A set of four food items belonging to the same nutritional category that were compared to get the most preferred food from that group.
• Replication: Replicate number for the experimental unit.
• Food type: The name of specific food item used (see abbreviation section below).
• Timepoint: Sampling time (minutes after the start of the trial) when ant visitation was recorded.
• Ant_number: The number of ants visiting a given food item at a given time point.

File: Foraging_Duration_Assay_Data.csv

Variables

• Food Category: Nutritional Category of food item, classified as protein-lipid-, carbohydrate-, or lipid-rich.
• Group: A set of four food items belonging to the same nutritional category that were compared to get the most prefered food from that group.
• Replication: Replicate number for the experimental unit.
• Food type: The name of specific food item used (see abbreviation section below).
• Cumulative duration (sec): Cumulative time (in seconds) ants spent foraging on each food item during the assay.
• Cumulative duration (min): Cumulative time (in minutes) ants spent foraging on each food item during the assay.

Abbreviations

• Protein-Lipid-Rich Food Category
  • Protein-Lipid Group A
    • BE= boiled egg, CB= cooked beef, CP= cooked pork, T= tuna.
  • Protein-Lipid Group B
    • DP= defatted peanut butter, BT= boiled tofu, BS= boiled sausage, CC= cooked chicken.
  • Protein-Lipid Group C
    • CK = cricket, CR = cockroach, PS = pumpkin seeds, and SS = sunflower seeds.
  • Protein-Lipid Inter-Group
    • CB = cooked beef, CC = cooked chicken, PS = pumpkin seeds, and SS = sunflower seeds.
• Carbohydrate-Rich Food Category
  • Carbohydrate Group A
    • C = Coca-Cola, M = maltose, S = sucrose, and SJ = strawberry jam.
  • Carbohydrate Group B
    • F = fructose, G = glucose, H = honey, and OJ = orange juice.
  • Carbohydrate Inter-Group
    • G = glucose, H = honey, M = maltose, and S = sucrose.
• Lipid-Rich Food Category
  • C = coconut oil, O = olive oil, P = peanut butter oil, and S = soybean oil.
• Inter-Category Comparison
  • CB= cooked beef, H = honey, P = peanut butter oil, and SS = sunflower seeds.

Code/software

All statistical analyses were conducted using R software (version 4.4.1). Data from the visitation frequency assay were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model with food type as a fixed effect and replication and timepoint as random effects to assess differences in ant visitation across the tested food items. Likelihood ratio tests were used to evaluate the significance of fixed effects. Post hoc Tukey-adjusted pairwise comparisons of estimated marginal means were performed to identify significant differences between treatments. The packages used were lme4, glmmTMB, emmeans, multcomp, and multcompView.

Data from the foraging duration assay were analyzed using a linear mixed model with food type as a fixed effect and replication as a random effect to examine variation in cumulative foraging duration among food items. The significance of fixed effects was assessed using Type III Wald chi-square tests, followed by Tukey-adjusted pairwise comparisons to identify significant differences between treatments. The packages used were lme4, lmerTest, car, emmeans, multcomp, and multcompView.

Access information

Other publicly accessible locations of the data:

• This dataset is only available through this repository.

Data was derived from the following sources:

• Data were generated from laboratory assays conducted with field-collected colonies of Wasmannia auropunctata in Hawai‘i.