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The experiment aimed to examine the spatial and behavioral interactions between antlions (Myr\-meleon Immaculatus )as the space they had to distribute themselves decreased.
Throughout the experiment pit depth, width, location, and cannibalism were measures.
This was done by placing antlions in an enclosure and recording their settlement patterns and behaviors, then by reducing the habitat size of the antlions over time to examine changes in position and interaction.
Lastly, a python program was made to analytically compare the data and create graphical representations of the data, such as voronoi diagrams.
It was hypothesised that cannibalism would increase and that pit depth and width would change proportionally to the environment.
The hypothesis that they exhibit more extreme behaviors under space constraints was confirmed because, proportional to the number introduced, especially in the 8x7 trial, as cannibalism and non-formation of pits increased significantly—likely as a compensatory mechanism to ensure that a stable ``surface group'' could still safely exist.
Additionally, territory (measurable by the Voronoi diagrams and by nearest neighbor) decreased towards the later trials, and the patterns did not merely display the same structure scaled down—rather, antlions accepted more dense conditions by increasing pit density.
This likely corresponds to natural conditions (especially in hatcheries) where some proportion of the antlions remain on the surface (increasing with population density because it's understood to mean a prevalence of food), and as the surface antlions become adults (sometimes fed through cannibalism), new larvae emerge to take their place and sustain the species propagation.
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