Abstract
Foragers of the ant Lasius nigerexploiting a 1 Msugar source were found to lay 43 %more trail marks than those exploiting a 0.05 or a 0.1 Msource. The trail laying per forager decreased during the course of individual recruitment episodes, and the mean lifetime of the trail pheromone was estimated to be 47 min. A mathematical function describing the probability that a forager chooses one of two paths in relation to the amount of trail pheromone on them closely fitted experimental data. These results were incorporated into a model describing the recruitment dynamics of L. niger.Simulations of this model showed that the observed modulation of trail laying with respect to food source quality is sufficient in itself to account for the systematic selection of the richer source seen in the experiments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beckers, R. (1992).L'auto-organisation—une réponse alternative à la complexité individuelle, Thèse de Doctorat, Université de Paris-Nord.
Beckers, R., Deneubourg, J. L., Goss, S., and Pasteels, J. M. (1990). Collective decision making through food recruitment.Insectes Soc. 37: 258–267.
Beckers, R., Deneubourg, J. L., and Goss, S. (1992a). Trail laying behaviour during food recruitment in the antLasius niger L.Insectes Soc. 39: 59–72.
Beckers, R., Deneubourg, J. L., and Goss, S. (1992b). Trails and U-turns in the selection of a path by the antLasius niger L.J. Theor. Biol.,159: 397–415.
Breed, M. D., Fewell, J. H., Moore, A. J., and Williams, K. R. (1987). Graded recruitment in a ponerine ant.Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 20: 407–411.
Camazine, S., and Sneyd, J. (1991). A mathematical model of colony level nectar source selection by honey bees: Self-organization through simple rules.J. Theor. Biol. 149: 547–571.
Cammaerts, M.-C. (1977). Recrutement d'ouvrières vers une source d'eau pure ou sucrée chez la fourmiMyrmica rubra L. (Formicidae).Biol. Behav. 2: 287–308.
Crawford, D. L., and Rissing, S. W. (1983). Regulation of recruitment by individual scouts inFormica oreas Wheeler (Hymenoptera, Formicidae).Insectes Soc. 30: 177–183.
Deneubourg, J. L., Aron, S., Goss, S., and Pasteels, J. M. (1990). The self-organizing exploratory pattern of the Argentine ant.J. Insect Behav. 3: 159–168.
Hantgartner, W. (1969). Orientierung vonLasius fuliginosus LATR. an einer Gabelung der Geruchsspur.Insectes Soc. 16: 55–60.
Hantgartner, W. (1970). Control of pheromone quantity in odor trails of the antAcanthomyops interjectus MAYR.Experientia 26: 664–665.
Nelson, C. R., Jorgensen, C. D., Black, H. L., and Whiting, J. (1991). Maintenance of foraging trails by the giant tropical antParaponera clavata (Insecta: Formicidae: Ponerinae).Insectes Soc. 38: 221–228.
Pasteels, J. M., Deneubourg, J. L., and Goss, S. (1987). Self-organization mechanisms in ant societies (I): Trail recruitment to newly discovered food sources. In Pasteels, J. M., and Deneubourg, J. L. (eds.),From Individual to Collective Behavior in Social Insects, Experientia Supplementum 54, BirkhÄuser Verlag, Basel.
Seeley, T. D., Camazine, S., and Sneyd, J. (1991). Collective decision-making in honeybees: How colonies choose among nectar sources.Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 28: 277–290.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Beckers, R., Deneubourg, J.L. & Goss, S. Modulation of trail laying in the antLasius niger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and its role in the collective selection of a food source. J Insect Behav 6, 751–759 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01201674
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01201674