Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are a conspicuous group of ectotherms whose behavior, distribution, physiology, and fitness are regulated by temperature. Consequently, interest in traits like thermal tolerance that enable ants to survive and thrive in variable climates has increased exponentially over the past few decades. Here, we synthesize the published literature on the thermal tolerance of ants. We begin our review with discussion of common metrics: critical thermal limits, lethal thermal limits, knock-down resistance, chill-coma recovery, and supercooling. In particular, we highlight the ways each thermal metric is quantified and offer a set of methodological caveats for consideration. We next describe patterns and hypotheses for ant thermal tolerance along spatial and temporal temperature gradients. Spatially, we focus on relationships with latitude, elevation, urbanization, and microclimate. Temporally, we focus on seasonal plasticity, daily variation, dominance-thermal tolerance tradeoffs, and acclimation. We further discuss other sources of variation including evolutionary history, body size, age, castes, and nutrition. Finally, we highlight several topics of interest to ant thermal biologists, ranging in scope from methods development to the impacts of climate change.

中文翻译：

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蚂蚁耐热性：方法、假设和变异来源的回顾

蚂蚁（膜翅目：蚁科）是一组引人注目的变温动物，其行为、分布、生理和适应性受温度调节。因此，在过去的几十年里，人们对能够让蚂蚁在多变的气候中生存和繁衍的耐热性等特性的兴趣呈指数级增长。在这里，我们综合了已发表的关于蚂蚁耐热性的文献。我们首先讨论常见指标：临界热限制、致命热限制、击倒阻力、冷昏迷恢复和过冷。特别是，我们强调了每个热指标的量化方式，并提供了一组方法警告以供考虑。我们接下来描述了蚂蚁在空间和时间温度梯度上的耐热性的模式和假设。空间上，我们关注与纬度、海拔、城市化和小气候的关系。在时间上，我们关注季节性可塑性、每日变化、优势-耐热性权衡和适应。我们进一步讨论了其他变异来源，包括进化史、体型、年龄、种姓和营养。最后，我们强调了蚂蚁热生物学家感兴趣的几个主题，范围从方法开发到气候变化的影响。