Morphogenesis of termite mounds
Morphogenesis of termite mounds
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1818759116
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发表时间：
2019-02-26
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Mahadevan, L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ocko, Samuel A.;Heyde, Alexander;Mahadevan, L.
非洲、亚洲、澳大利亚和南美洲的几种毫米级白蚁共同构建了大型、米级、多孔的土丘结构，用于调节土丘的温度、湿度和气体浓度。这些土丘显示出不同但独特的形态，大小和形状范围很广。为了解释这种形态的多样性，我们引入了一个数学模型，耦合环境物理学昆虫行为：对流和扩散的热量和信息素通过多孔介质被修改的土堆的几何形状，反过来，修改该几何形状通过最小的表征白蚁的行为。我们的模型捕捉自然观察到的土墩形状的范围内的一组最小的无量纲参数，并使土墩形态的外部温度振荡和内部气味的响应可测试的假设。我们的方法还提出了机制，通过这种机制，气味产生率和建筑行为的进化变化，再加上简单的物理定律，可以改变白蚁的特征丘形态。
Several species of millimetric-sized termites across Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America collectively construct large, metersized, porous mound structures that serve to regulate mound temperature, humidity, and gas concentrations. These mounds display varied yet distinctive morphologies that range widely in size and shape. To explain this morphological diversity, we introduce a mathematical model that couples environmental physics to insect behavior: The advection and diffusion of heat and pheromones through a porous medium are modified by the mound geometry and, in turn, modify that geometry through a minimal characterization of termite behavior. Our model captures the range of naturally observed mound shapes in terms of a minimal set of dimensionless parameters and makes testable hypotheses for the response of mound morphology to external temperature oscillations and internal odors. Our approach also suggests mechanisms by which evolutionary changes in odor production rate and construction behavior coupled to simple physical laws can alter the characteristic mound morphology of termites.