Program
| CTC7b | |
|---|---|
| Bob Planque | |
| VU University Amsterdam | |
| Title | Recruitment strategies and colony size in ants |
| Abstract | Ants use a great variety of recruitment methods to forage for food or find new nests, including tandem running, group recruitment and scent trails. It has been known for some time that there is a loose correlation across many taxa between species-specific mature colony size and recruitment method (Beckers et al 1989). Until now, explanations for this correlation have focused on the ants' ecology, such as food resource distribution. However, many species have colonies with workforces that grow from a single queen over several orders of magnitude, and little is known about how a colony's organization, including recruitment methods, may change during growth. After all, recruitment involves interactions between ants, and hence the size of the colony itself may influence which recruitment method is used. Here we show using mathematical models that the observed correlation can also be explained by recognizing that failure rates in recruitment depend differently on colony size in various recruitment strategies. Our models predict that ant colonies should use only one recruitment method (and always the same one) rather than a mix of two or more. We also show that certain recruitment features, such as group size in group recruitment, in fact should not depend on colony size. These results highlight the importance of the organization of recruitment and how it affects, and is affected by, colony size. Hence these results should also expand our understanding of ant ecology. |
| Location | CHBE 102 |