First In Situ Identification of Ultradian and Infradian Rhythms, and Nocturnal Locomotion Activities of Four Colonies of Red Wood Ants ( Formica rufa-Group).

In situ activity patterns of 2 Formica rufa-group species ( F. pratensis; F. polyctena) were continuously studied at 4 different red wood-ant nests for 6 months in each of the years 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2016 and related to weather factors and variations in the Earth's magnetic field.

Degassing Rhythms and Fluctuations of Geogenic Gases in A Red Wood-Ant Nest and in Soil in The Neuwied Basin (East Eifel Volcanic Field, Germany).

Geochemical tracers of crustal fluids (CO₂, He, Rn) provide a useful tool for the identification of buried fault structures. We acquired geochemical data during 7-months of continual sampling to identify causal processes underlying correlations between ambient air and degassing patterns of three gases (CO₂, He, Rn) in a nest of red wood ants ( ; "RWA") and the soil at Goloring in the Neuwied Basin, a part of the East Eifel Volcanic Field (EEVF). We explored whether temporal relations and degassing rhythms in soil and nest gas concentrations could be indicators of hidden faults through which the gases migrate to the surface from depth.

Can a Red Wood-Ant Nest Be Associated with Fault-Related CH₄ Micro-Seepage? A Case Study from Continuous Short-Term In-Situ Sampling.

We measured methane (CH₄) and stable carbon isotope of methane (δC-CH₄) concentrations in ambient air and within a red wood-ant (RWA; ) nest in the Neuwied Basin (Germany) using high-resolution in-situ sampling to detect microbial, thermogenic, and abiotic fault-related micro-seepage of CH₄. Methane degassing from RWA nests was not synchronized with earth tides, nor was it influenced by micro-earthquake degassing or concomitantly measured RWA activity. Two δC-CH₄ signatures were identified in nest gas: -69‰ and -37‰.

Nests of red wood ants (-group) are positively associated with tectonic faults: a double-blind test.

Ecological studies often are subjected to unintentional biases, suggesting that improved research designs for hypothesis testing should be used. Double-blind ecological studies are rare but necessary to minimize sampling biases and omission errors, and improve the reliability of research. We used a double-blind design to evaluate associations between nests of red wood ants (, RWA) and the distribution of tectonic faults.