Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
Region VIII (Eastern
Visayas) Division of Eastern
Samar

Investigating The Behavior Of Ants In Response To

Leftover Foods

A Quantitative Research
Presented to the Faculty of the Senior High School
DOLORES NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Dolores, Eastern Samar

In partial fulfillment of the requirements in

Practical Research 1

Avila, Lian Azenith R.

Ortiza, Remerose G.
Coles, Yanie J.
Tabuena, Irish Nicole.
Mosende, Charmel H.
Acayan, Sharmine

Grade 11 – STEM

SHAIRA T. LINALCOSO
Research Adviser
 Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
Region VIII (Eastern
Visayas) Division of Eastern
Samar

Table of Contents

Title Page i
Table of contents ii
I. Introduction. 1
Background of the Study 1
Research questions 2
Hypothesis 2
Scope and Delimitations 3
Significance of the study 4
Conceptual Framework 5
Definition of Terms 6
II. Review Of Related Literature 7
III. Methodology
Research Design 8
Locale 8
Variables 8
Set Ups Of The Study 8
Procedure 9
Data Gathering 10
Ethical Procedure 10
Safety And Precautions 10
Data Analysis 10
Bibliography 33
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Ants flexibly change their behavioral modes at various levels, from
individuals to whole colonies, based on external stimuli, such as finding a new food
source (O Yamanaka et al., 2022) Ants are known as social insects because their
colonies and nests are regularly composed of thousands of ants. Ant colonies are
divided into 3 castes namely male ants, queen ants, and worker ants. The most
common ant species in everyday life are those weaver ants and ghost ants (Tapinoma
melanocephalum) red-brown in color, and often gnaw on sweet foodstuffs, and can
appear quickly when we store sweet-tasting foods. Ants are an invasive species. The
food is a variety of foods that have a sweet taste like sugar, even the sweet taste of
fruit. So that ants are often called kitchen pests (Sutikno et al., 2020). Different bait
densities are discussed for the various ant species. Food preference trials indicated
that vineyard foraging ants preferred wet bait attractants over dry ones, making
liquids the most ideal carriers for baiting these ants ( Casper Nyamukondiwa &.,
2014).
Ants can live in several places such as old plant branches, dry grass, damp places,
kitchens, and others. In the United States and Argentina ants are considered household
pests, agricultural pests, urban to suburban (Suiter et al., 2021; Vega, 2001). In China,
ants are considered as household and plant pests (Zheng et al., 2018). In Indonesia,
ants are often considered as household pests, because they can quickly find various
types of sweet food that we store. Behind their function as pests, ants also have
benefits in the ecosystem, as decomposers (Meilin & ., 2016). Research on ants is
generally only about habitat distribution, diversity, and genetics, while eating
behavior is rarely done. Eating behavior is a description of the behavior of living
things towards how to eat, eating frequency, eating patterns, food preferences, and
food selection (Rahman et al., 2016). According to Hasan et al. (2021), there are
several sequences of ant behavior when eating, namely stalking behavior when
detecting food ingredients, behavior approaching food ingredients, communicating
with other members of the ants to flock to the food ingredients obtained.
There are two factors that influence ants to find food, namely internal factors
characterized by hunger, and external factors or changes in temperature and humidity
in the habitat (Burford et al., 2018). This research was conducted aiming to analyze
the feeding behavior of ants.
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Research Questions

Ants, as social insects, play crucial roles in ecosystems, including scavenging

for food. This research aims to investigate the behavior of ants in response to leftover

foods, specifically sweets, fruits, and dishes, in the biodiverse region of Dolores,

Eastern Samar, Philippines. This study tries to determine the following:

1. How does the species of ants native to Dolores, Eastern Samar, Philippines,

respond to different types of leftover foods, including sweets, fruits, and dishes, in

their foraging behavior and dietary preferences?

2. How does the presence of leftover foods, particularly sweets, fruits, and dishes, influence

the activity and distribution of ant colonies in the biodiverse region of Dolores, Eastern

Samar, Philippines?

Hypothesis

This study seeks to test the following hypothesis:

H0. The slow flexibility of ants when they are looking for some leftover foods.

H1. The flexibility of ants when they are looking for some leftover foods
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Scope and Delimitation

This study’s primary goal is to examine how ants behave in reaction to leftover food.

The study was carried out at Dolores National High School, located in Brgy. 9,

Reynaldo Street.

The length of the study may change based on the observation time and research

strategy. The following information from this research may concentrate on particular

ant species or take a wider variety of ant species into consideration. It looks at several

kinds of left-over food to see how ants behave differently.

The behavior of ants in response to leftover foods could include factors such as the

type of food, the species of ants studied, environmental conditions, and behavioral

observations. It involves focusing on a specific species of ants, a particular type of

leftover food, a defined geographic area, and a limited timeframe for observation.

Significance of the Study

Pest Control: Understanding how ants are drawn to and engage with leftover

ingredients can inform pest management strategies. By figuring out which sorts of

foods are most attractive to ants, we are able to develop better methods for stopping

infestations and managing them when they occur.

Ecological Impact: Ants play essential roles in ecosystems, including nutrient

recycling and seed dispersal. Investigating their behavior around leftover meals can

shed light on their ecological characteristics and how human activities, which include

meal waste, may affect ant populations and their interactions with different

organisms.
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Public Health: Ants can transmit illnesses and contaminate food. By analyzing their

behavior around food leftovers, researchers can better understand the risks they pose

to public fitness and develop strategies to mitigate these dangers.

Waste Management: Food waste is a large international problem with

environmental, financial, and social implications. Understanding how ants engage

with leftover meals can make contributions to more effective waste management

practices, potentially decreasing the amount of food that ends up in landfills.

Behavioral Ecology: Studying how ants respond to distinctive styles of meals can

offer insights into their foraging conduct, communique, and social shape. This

knowledge can contribute to our knowledge of broader ecological standards and

evolutionary processes.
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Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Ants under different food The response of ants to
types (candy, chocolates, leftover foods
banana, orange and adobo,
and paksiw)
1.1 Smell
1.2 Approach
1.1 How fast can ants 1.3 Types of leftovers
smell the leftover
dishes?
1.2 How fast can ants
approach the leftover
foods?
1.3 How fast can ants
carry foods to their
home?

Figure 1. The Conceptual Framework of the Study

In this study, this conceptual framework shows the independent and dependent

variables of the study. Ants under different food types will be the independent

variable. Candy, chocolates, banana, orange and adobo are the food types that the

researcher will test. The response of ants to leftover foods will be the dependent

variable.
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Definition of terms

The following words defined by the researchers are the terms encountered in

the study:

Ants: Social insects of the family

Behavior: Observable actions or directions of organisms in response to stimuli from

their environment.

Leftover foods: Food items remaining unconsumed after a meal or food preparation
(sweets, fruits, dishes)

Investigation: A systematic study or examination aimed at uncovering new

information or understanding a phenomenon; in this case, investigating the behavior
of ants towards different types of leftover foods such as sweets, fruits, and dishes.

Colony: A group of ants living and working together in a structured society, often
including a weaver.

Foraging: Is the behavior of ants searching for food and is characterized by

exploration, trail-following, and food retrieval.

Preference: A tendency or inclination towards one opinion over another, often

influenced by factors such as taste, smell, and nutritional value. Response: reaction or
behavior exhibited by ants when exposed to specific stimuli, such as leftover foods
such as sweets, fruits, and dishes.

Trail: A path marked by pheromones or other signals left by ants as they move
between their nest and a food source.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Related Studies
Ants are common insects, but they have some unique capabilities including their
legendary communication skills that allow their colonies to function as
superorganisms. The most common ant species in everyday life are those that are
small in size, red-brown in color, and often can be seen on sweet foodstuffs, and can
appear quickly when we store sweet-tasting foods. The food is a variety of foods that
have a sweet taste like sugar, even the sweet taste of fruit. So that ants are often called
kitchen pests (Sutikno et al., 2020). Ants are also known as the most dominant
terrestrial organisms, namely 1.27% of the world's 9,500 insect species (Abdul-
Rassoul et al., 2013; Putra et al., 2021). Behind their function as pests, ants also have
benefits in the ecosystem, as decomposers (Meilin &., 2016). Research on ants is
generally only about habitat distribution, diversity, and genetics, while eating
behavior is rarely done. Eating behavior is a description of the behavior of living
things towards how to eat, eating frequency, eating patterns, food preferences, and food
selection (Rahman et al., 2016). There are several other terms placed under the umbrella of
“animal personality” such as “behavioral syndrome,” “coping style,” “pace-of-life
syndromes;” however, each of them describes different aspects of behavioral phenotypes
(Beekman and Jordan, 2017). Studying animal personality includes observing the same
individuals more than once and quantifying within- and among-individual (co)variances (Bell,
2017). Some recent studies consider cognitive characteristics as a part of personality. For
instance, on the example of great tits, (Nácarová et al. 2018) argue that “fast” and “slow
explorers” differ in their cognitive ability to evaluate the confusing sparrow hawk-pigeon
chimeras. (Reznikova et al. 2019) revealed significant individual variability in the ability of
striped field mice to distinguish between different quantities of visual geometric stimuli. Still,
a few works are studying whether species show consistent within-species between-individual
variation in cognitive abilities such as attention, learning, and memory (Griffin et al., 2015;
Nácarová et al., 2018; Wilson et al., 2019). Whilst numerous studies highlight behavioral
variation across a diverse range of species, the understanding of what drives this variation,
and how it is maintained, is still limited (Gordon, 2019; Wilson et al., 2019). Although
several seminal studies recently have considered personalities in social insects at multiple
levels, from individuals to groups and whole colonies (Jandt et al., 2014; Wright et al., 2019;
Kolay et al., 2020), the main difficulty here is that the individuals that make up a social insect
colony are so highly cooperative and tightly connected that their societies are often regarded
as a single super-organism (Feinerman and Korman, 2017). Weaver ants, Oecophylla
smaragdina, are famed for their intricate nests (Sabina et al., 2017) Twenty colonies of O.
longinoda were provided with four types of food to determine their feeding preferences.
These include anchovy, chicken intestine, fish intestines and earthworms. We examined food
preferred by ants based on weight of the food removed and activity of the ants on foods.
Furthermore, we examined foraging behavior of ant workers on anchovy food (fresh-ground
and dry-ground) in nine O. longinoda colonies. (Wilson Nene et al., 2016)
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
There were two types of research design that we applied in this study. These are Experimental
and quasi-experimental research design to test the cause and effect of different types of
leftover foods in the behavior of ants. Experimental design is used to test casual relationships
it also involves manipulating an independent variable and measuring its effect on a
dependent variable.

Local of the Study

The locale of the study is in Dolores National High School, Dolores, Eastern Samar. Nestled
amidst the picturesque landscapes of Dolores, Eastern Samar, Dolores National High School
affords a super locale for investigating the behavior of ants in reaction to leftover meals. The
vicinity's wealthy biodiversity and tropical climate create a conducive surroundings for
observing ant ecology and foraging behaviors. Eastern Samar boasts a various array of
flowers and fauna, making it a really perfect region for studying ant behavior. Dolores, with
its abundance of herbal habitats and plant life, gives researchers sufficient opportunities to
take a look at how ants interact with leftover ingredients of their environment. Moreover,
Dolores National High School serves as a focal point of network activity, allowing
researchers to take a look at ant conduct in a human-prompted putting. By accomplishing the
studies within the faculty premises, researchers can advantage insights into how ants reply to
the creation of leftover meals during each day activities including recess and lunch breaks.
Overall, Dolores National High School in Dolores, Eastern Samar, offers a lovely and
scientifically relevant vicinity for investigating the conduct of ants in reaction to leftover
foods.

Variables Of The Study

1. Types of food - May attract ants to varying degrees based on factors like smell, taste, and
texture.
2. Species of ants - Different species of ants may have varying preferences and behaviors in
response to leftover foods.
3. Environmental factors - Temperature, humidity, and other environmental conditions can
impact ant behavior.
4. Quantity of food - The amount of leftover food provided can affect the intensity of ant
activity.
5. Time of day - Ant activity may vary depending on the time of day, with more activity
during certain periods.

Set Ups Of The Study

This study had 3 set-ups of food. Each set-ups has a different types of food, meals, fruits, and
sweets. In Set-up A we’re going to put paksiw, and in set-up B we’re also gong to put honey,
set-up C has a orange to examine the ants. The researchers pick these foods to test how fast
ants will approach.
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Materials

In making this study, the researchers used different materials. These are; aquarium, table,
gloves, bowl, plate, bottle, Knife, magnifying glass, and cellphone, stop watch and
magnifying glass. there are different food types that we mainly used in this study in different
category. In sweets there are; candy, chocolates and honey. In dish there are; paksiw, and
adobo. In fruits we have orange and banana.

Procedure

In Investigating the behavior of ants in response to left over foods, first thing we do; gather all
materials needed for the experiment. Label each container with the type of food it will
contain. Place a small amount of each type of leftover food into its labeled container. Prepare
a clean, flat surface where you will conduct the experiment. Place the containers with the
different types of leftover food equidistant from each other on the flat surface. Ensure that the
area is free from other sources of food or distractions that may influence the ants' behavior.
Place a group of ants near the center of the experimental area. Allow the ants some time to
acclimate to their surroundings. Use the stopwatch or timer to record the time it takes for the
ants to discover each type of food. Observe and record the number of ants attracted to each
type of food. Take note of the ants' behavior around each food source, such as feeding
patterns and interactions with other ants. Use the magnifying glass to see their reactions as
magnified. After a set period of time (30 minutes), observe which type of food attracted the
most ants and which type of food was least attractive to them. Analyze the data to identify
any patterns or trends in the ants' behavior in response to different types of leftover foods.
Draw conclusions based on your observations and data analysis. Discuss any factors that may
have influenced the ants' behavior, such as the nutritional content or odor of the foods

Research Instrument

Two separate checklist were employed as tools or instrument in gathering the relevant data.
First checklist has three (3) questions. It will see the response of ants. In determining the
behavior of ants, the researcher included three (3) different set ups to test how fast the ants
will approach.

Data Gathering Procedure

This study aims to determine the eating behavior of Ants in the context of response to leftover
foods behavior decomposer organisms in the ecosystem. The study was conducted using the
Scan sampling method, namely recording the behavior of more than one individual per a
predetermined time, which is every 10 minutes for 1 hour. The feeding behavior of ants was
recorded using the Instantaneous sampling method. The results showed that ants have
different eating behavior when consuming sweets and meals textured food. When eating
sweets food, ants will make a neat formation, whereas when consuming meals food ants do
not form formations.

Ethical Procedure

All the procedures presented here should be conducted thoughtfully and humanely to
minimize any potential harm or discomfort to the ants. Ant colonies should be housed with
care, and ants being used in experiments should only be kept in experimental arenas for the
time required to test student hypothesis.
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Safety And Precautions

We followed this precautions in observing ants; Weaver ants (oecophylla), Ghost ants
( Tapinoma melanocephalum)

1. wear protective gears like gloves and long sleeves to avoid bites or stings
2. avoid using toxic substances or method to observe ants because it can harm both the
researchers and ants.
3. respecting their boundaries is important as it can disrupt their behavior and cause stress to
ants.
4. Have basic first aid supplies nearby in case of any accidental encounters with ants.
5. And, keep the research area clean to prevent attracting unwanted pests or contaminating the
study.

Data Analysis

The data was analyzed by means of Statistical Analysis. This kind of analysis was performed
to identify patterns and trends in ant behavior based on the types of leftover foods
encountered. Insights from this analysis can inform strategies for controlling ant populations,
particularly in urban environments where leftover foods can attract pests. The Statistical
Analysis highlights the complex behavior of ants in response to leftover foods, shedding light
on their foraging strategies and social dynamics. The statistical analysis will provide
quantitative insights into the behavior of ants in response to different types of leftover foods,
helping to confirm patterns observed in the data and draw meaningful conclusions about their
preferences and behaviors.
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References

Definition of terms https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=definition

%20of%20terms%20of%20investigating%20the%20behavior%20of%20ants%20in

%20response%20to%20left%20over%20foods

%20&btnG=&fbclid=IwAR2Kxe5SoAf3h34xEJKj3Ms-7GlH7QTMYFN4lgyxitbiclcJtIrQp_MXsDY

Guide to experimental design

https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/experimental-design/?

fbclid=IwAR3XAMbRcCb80YASWYGhUFQ0egRrAsDtvp0sApZu7MQ_1tAnRmQUaQZs

URg
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4206238/

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