The role of colony size on tunnel branching morphogenesis in ant nests.

ABSTRACT: Many ant species excavate nests that are made up of chambers and interconnecting tunnels. There is a general trend of an increase in nest complexity with increasing population size. This complexity reflects a higher ramification and anastomosis of tunnels that can be estimated by the meshedness coefficient of the tunnelling networks. It has long been observed that meshedness increases with colony size within and across species, but no explanation has been provided so far. Since colony size is a strong factor controlling collective digging, a high value of the meshedness could simply be a side effect of a larger number of workers. To test this hypothesis, we study the digging dynamics in different group size of ants Messor sancta. We build a model of collective digging that is calibrated fr

SUBMITTER: Gautrais J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4198125 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature