Bugrov E.V. 2025. 3d-modeling of nest mounds of red wood ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) // Euroasian Entomological Journal. Vol.24. No.1: 53–60 [in English].
National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, Akademika Kurchatova Square 1, Moscow 123182 Russia; Institute of Ecology and Evolution A.N. Severtsov, the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Avenue 33, Moscow 119071 Russia. E-mail: burgov_ev@yandex.ru
doi 10.15298/euroasentj.24.01.13
ABSTRACT. The ant nest is the most important element of a colony's infrastructure. Anthill construction is one of the most highly organized processes of ant activity. The nests of red wood ants (Formica rufa group) are still insufficiently studied in terms of the internal structure of the nest mound made of plant debris, the ratio of materials used by the ants. This is partly due to the nature of the materials — the structure is usually not preserved when the mound material is sampled — and partly to the use of outdated and inefficient methods of description. This article discusses the use of photoscanning techniques in the excavation of ant nests and the monitoring of anthill construction. It is shown that photoscanning can be used to track nest construction with assessment of changes in nest mound volume, highlighting areas of intensive construction and subsidence. It is also shown that during the excavation of an anthill, it is possible to estimate the volume of individual parts of the nest mound, including the top layer and inner cone, as well as samples taken from them. Labor costs for field work and data processing were estimated. The most labor-intensive stage of the initial methodology, namely marking reference points on the model, is revealed. Some solutions are proposed to optimize the marking.
KEY WORDS: ants, Formica rufa group, anthill, nest mound, photoscanning, 3d-modeling.