Ant encounters: interaction networks and colony behavior interaction networks and colony behavior

182 Pages·2010·1.099 MB·English

by  Gordon, Deborah M

ant
EncountErs
PrimErs in comPlEx systEms
aNt
ENCouNtErs
Interaction Networks
and Colony Behavior
Deborah M. Gordon
princeton university press
Princeton & Oxford
Copyright © 2010 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1TW

All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gordon, Deborah (Deborah M.)
Ant encounters : interaction networks and colony behavior / Deborah M. Gordon.
p. cm. -- (Primers in complex systems)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-13879-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Ants--Behavior. 2. Insect societies. I. Title. II. Series:
Primers in complex systems.
QL568.F7G635 2010
595.79’61782--dc22 2009031028
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

This book has been composed in Adobe Garamond
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
I saw them hurrying from either side
and each shade kissed another, without pausing,
Each by the briefest society satisfied.
(Ants in their dark ranks, meet exactly so,
rubbing each other’s noses, to ask perhaps
What luck they’ve had, or which way they should go.)
—Dante, Purgatorio, Canto XXVI
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
1. The Ant Colony as a Complex System 1
2. Colony Organization 14
the Diversity of Ant Behavior 14
From Individual to Collective Behavior 19
Division of Labor 25
Ants switch tasks 30
Age Polyethism 33
What Ants Respond to 37
task Allocation 41
3. Interaction Networks 45
What Happens at network nodes 47
the Pattern of Interaction Is the Message 49
Rate and Memory 57
Individual Variation 63
species Differences 67
viii contents
4. Colony Size 75
colony Growth 75
task allocation and colony size 83
Ecology, Behavior, and mature colony size 90
5. Relations with Neighbors 96
relations with neighbors of the same species 97
interactions between species 107
invasive species 112
From Ecology to Behavior 117
6. Ant Evolution 121
coevolution of ants and Plants 121
Evolution of colony organization 125
natural selection in action 131
7. Modeling Ant Behavior 141

Notes 147

Index 165
list oF illustrations
Figure 3.1. Fire ants interact more around food 70
Figure 4.1. Colony growth in harvester ants 77
Figure 5.1. The interactions of three young harvester
ant colonies 101