Figure 16.14 Interference competition in ants. Red harvester ants and long-legged ants compete for seeds and insects. When the harvester ant nest is not plugged by the long-legged ant, a large number of colonies emerge by 6 AM. However, if the nest entrances are plugged by the long-legged ant, it can take several hours for the harvester ants to clear the openings and start foraging.

Data from D. M. Gordon, Nest-plugging: Interference competition in desert ants (Novomessor cockerelli and Pogonomyrmex barbatus), Oecologia 75 (1988): 114–118.