Dispersion and History of a Population of the Meat Ant Iridomyrmex Purpureus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

Abstract

An isolated population was studied at Belair, in the Mt Lofty Ranges in South Australia, by mapping the distribution of nests and colony territories in an area bounded on one side by a railway cutting and centred on relatively sparse vegetation on a ridge projecting into denser vegetation. The population consisted of 27 antagonistic colonies which partitioned the habitable area into exclusive territories. Types and relationships of nests are described, ranging from old, abandoned ones to permanently occupied ones in various stages of growth and decline. The distribution of nests tended towards regularity, which, with confrontations between members of different colonies on the boundaries of some territories, indicated that intercolonial competition was involved in the development of the distribution pattern. The population appeared to be of considerable age and natural stability.