Exploration adjustment by ant colonies

Exploration adjustment by ant colonies

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How do animals in groups organize their work? Division of labour, i.e.the process by which individuals within a group choose which tasks to VALERIAN ROOT perform, has been extensively studied in social insects.Variability among individuals within a colony seems to underpin both the decision over which tasks to perform and the amount of effort to invest in a task.Studies have focused mainly on discrete tasks, i.

e.tasks with a recognizable end.Here, we study the distribution of effort in nest seeking, in the absence of new nest sites.Hence, this task is open-ended and individuals have to decide when to stop searching, even though the task has not been completed.We show that collective search effort declines when colonies inhabit better homes, as a consequence of a reduction in the number of bouts (exploratory events).

Furthermore, we show an increase in bout exploration time and a decrease in bout instantaneous speed for colonies inhabiting better homes.The effect of treatment on bout effort is very small; however, we suggest that the organization of work performed within nest searching Baby Pants is achieved both by a process of self-selection of the most hard-working ants and individual effort adjustment.