Simple rules based on pile slope are used in the self organization of sand pile formation by Pheidole oxyops ants

Abstract.

We tested the hypothesis that slope influences where worker ants deposit excavated soil on piles near the nest entrance. We predicted that ants will deposit their load near the top of a pile where the slope changes from upward to downward, to prevent material rolling back towards the entrance. We tested this hypothesis by studying five natural colonies of Pheidole oxyops ants at a field site at São Simão, Brazil. At this site, each colony was dumping sandy soil excavated from its underground nest in a crescent-shaped pile c. 13 cm from and perpendicular to the nest entrance. Each nest was given an experimental sand pile of symmetrical curved cross section on a plywood platform that could be tilted 15 degrees up or down. From videos, the locations where individual ants dumped their soil loads were measured in relation to the inner (position = 0) and outer (position = 1) edges of the pile. When the platform was tilted down the ants deposited their loads significantly closer to the inner edge (0.458 ± 0.007) than when not tilted (0.530 ± 0.006). When the platform was tilted up the ants deposited their loads significantly further from the inner edge (0.626 ± 0.006) than when not tilted (0.522 ± 0.006). These results support the hypothesis that ants use pile slope in deciding where to dump their load. A similar rule is probably used in other ant species that place excavated soil in steep piles near the nest entrance.