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Individual and collective problem-solving in a foraging context in the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica

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Abstract

In this paper we investigate the flexibility of foraging behavior in the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica, both at the individual and collective levels, following a change in the physical properties of their environment. We studied in laboratory conditions the changes occurring in foraging behavior when a height constraint was placed 1 cm above part of the trail linking the nest to the foraging area. We found that the size and shape of the fragments of foraging material brought back to the nest were significantly modified when the constraint was placed on the trail: independent of their size, forager ants cut smaller and rounder fragments in the presence of a height constraint than in its absence. This size adjustment does not require any direct sensory feedback because it occurred when the ants cut fragments in the foraging area; no further cutting was done when they encountered the constraint. This points to the existence of a template that ants store and use as a reference to adjust their reach while cutting. Remarkably, despite the decrease in the foraging material brought to the nest per capita the colony was still able to improve its foraging performance by doubling the number of transporters. This study illustrates the flexibility of foraging behavior exhibited by an ant colony. It provides a rare example of insects finding an intelligent solution to a problem occurring in a foraging context, at both the individual and collective levels.

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. Gauthier and M. Giurfa for helpful discussions. A. D. was supported by a mobility fellowship (bourse de co-tutelle Belgique-France) from the French Ministry of Scientific Research and a fellowship (ATUPS) from Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse, France). J. L. D. is a research associate from the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition animale, UMRCNRS 5169, Université Paul Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 4, France

    Audrey Dussutour & Vincent Fourcassié

  2. Unit of Social Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bld du Triomphe, B-1050, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Audrey Dussutour & Jean-Louis Deneubourg

  3. Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 320 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Samuel Beshers

  4. School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Building A 08, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Audrey Dussutour

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  1. Audrey Dussutour
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  2. Jean-Louis Deneubourg
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  3. Samuel Beshers
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  4. Vincent Fourcassié
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Correspondence to Audrey Dussutour.

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Dussutour, A., Deneubourg, JL., Beshers, S. et al. Individual and collective problem-solving in a foraging context in the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica . Anim Cogn 12, 21–30 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-008-0165-0

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