As
Temnothorax colonies are small and easy to maintain in a
laboratory environment, they are often used to study social behavior in ants.
Temnothorax have been used to show displays of social structures through communication, colony responsibility, and influence. Communication among ants had been observed by biologists and is assumed to be entirely influenced through
substrate-bound odor cues. However, this previously determined social factor has been disproved among
Temnothorax; a study isolating navigational influences during
emigration. This report concluded that this species relies on visual cues and odor cues are simply used to mark territory.
Temnothorax species have been studied to determine the extent of
queen control over reproductive decisions of her workers. In one study comparing mixed-species colonies and same-species colonies, queens were not able to completely suppress
reproduction of the male workers in mixed-species colonies but could suppress male workers in single-species colonies. Size of a
Temnothorax colony influences the division of labor among workers. By studying 11 colonies of both large and small population sizes (a small colony to consist of 200 to 400 individuals and a large colony to consist of 500 to 700 individuals), the researchers were able to determine how tasks were divided and the proportion of how many workers were active or inactive in the completion of tasks. Seven different tasks are required during the
emigration process from an old
nest to a new one: scouting, brood transport, adult transport, collection of food (collection of dead
Drosophila vinegar flies and collection of
honey solution), collection of sand materials for wall building, and the actual task of wall building. The proportion of active workers is usually less than 25% and never more than 50%. The ratio of active and non-active workers remains consistent across colony sizes. Specialization of tasks is also not determined by colony size. == Species ==