Bi-stability in cooperative transport by ants in the presence of obstacles.

ABSTRACT: To cooperatively carry large food items to the nest, individual ants conform their efforts and coordinate their motion. Throughout this expedition, collective motion is driven both by internal interactions between the carrying ants and a response to newly arrived informed ants that orient the cargo towards the nest. During the transport process, the carrying group must overcome obstacles that block their path to the nest. Here, we investigate the dynamics of cooperative transport, when the motion of the ants is frustrated by a linear obstacle that obstructs the motion of the cargo. The obstacle contains a narrow opening that serves as the only available passage to the nest, and through which single ants can pass but not with the cargo. We provide an analytical model for the ant-cargo syste

SUBMITTER: Ron JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5944914 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature