Agitated ants: regulation and self-organization of incipient nest excavation via collisional cues
Agitated ants: regulation and self-organization of incipient nest excavation via collisional cues
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DOI：
10.1098/rsif.2022.0597
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发表时间：
2023-05-17
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Goldman，Daniel I.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Avinery，Ram;Aina，Kehinde O.;Goldman，Daniel I.
蚂蚁的大小只有毫米，但它们在不同的基质上共同创造出米级的巢穴。为了发现蚂蚁群体自组织挖掘拥挤狭窄隧道的原则，我们研究了准二维竞技场中小群体火蚁的初期挖掘。挖掘速率显示了三个阶段：最初的挖掘以恒定的速率发生，然后是快速的衰减，最后是一个较慢的衰减，时间为ast-1/2。我们使用元胞自动机模型来理解这种缩放，并激励如何在没有全局控制的情况下出现速率调制。在该模型中，蚂蚁估计它们与其他蚂蚁的碰撞频率，但除此之外不进行通信。为了捕捉早期挖掘率，我们引入了“激动”的概念--如果碰撞频繁，个人会避免休息的倾向。该模型再现了所观察到的多阶段挖掘动力学;分析揭示了参数如何影响多阶段进展的特征。此外，没有蚂蚁-蚂蚁相互作用的缩放参数在很长一段时间内捕获隧道生长幂律。我们的研究展示了个体蚂蚁如何使用局部碰撞线索来实现功能性的全局自组织。这种基于接触的决策可以被其他生物和非生物群体利用，以在狭窄和拥挤的环境中执行任务。
Ants are millimetres in scale yet collectively create metre-scale nests in diverse substrates. To discover principles by which ant collectives self-organize to excavate crowded, narrow tunnels, we studied incipient excavation in small groups of fire ants in quasi-two-dimensional arenas. Excavation rates displayed three stages: initially excavation occurred at a constant rate, followed by a rapid decay, and finally a slower decay scaling in time ast−1/2. We used a cellular automata model to understand such scaling and motivate how rate modulation emerges without global control. In the model, ants estimated their collision frequency with other ants, but otherwise did not communicate. To capture early excavation rates, we introduced the concept of ‘agitation’—a tendency of individuals to avoid rest if collisions are frequent. The model reproduced the observed multi-stage excavation dynamics; analysis revealed how parameters affected features of multi-stage progression. Moreover, a scaling argument without ant–ant interactions captures tunnel growth power-law at long times. Our study demonstrates how individual ants may use local collisional cues to achieve functional global self-organization. Such contact-based decisions could be leveraged by other living and non-living collectives to perform tasks in confined and crowded environments.