Abstract
When an ant colony needs to find a new nest, scouts are sent out to evaluate
the suitability of potential sites, particularly their size. It has been
suggested that ant scouts of Leptothorax albipennis use a simple heuristic
known as Buffon's needle to evaluate nest size. They do this in two stages:
first laying a pheromone trail in the nest site, then, after returning to the
old nest, coming and wandering within the site assessing frequency of
intersection with the pheromone trail (""two-pass"" strategy). If a colony is
forced to relocate from its current nest due to destruction of that nest, the
time required to find a suitable new nest may be crucial. This report details
preliminary results from a computer simulation model of evaluation of nest size.
The model aims to study why a ""two-pass"" strategy is used by ants when a
""one-pass"" strategy, in which the ant simultaneously lays pheromone and assesses
the frequency at which it encounters its own trail, may be more time efficient.
Analysis of the results indicates no clear advantage for the ""two-pass""
strategy, given the assumptions of the model. Possible implications of this
result are discussed.
Translated title of the contribution | Simulating the evolution of ant behaviour in evaluating nest sites |
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Original language | English |
Title of host publication | Unknown |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 643 - 650 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2003 |