Social facilitation among digging ants (Formica subsericea)

Studies of Formica subsericea indicate that for two colonies out of three the amount of digging accomplished by an isolated ant in a two hour period was significantly less than that accomplished by an ant working in association with one or more other ants. However, the increase in activity by a given ant was independent of the number of additional ants. This outcome qualitatively confirms similar published results on Camponotus japonicus. Quantitative differences between different species cannot yet be satisfactorily explained.