Food-fragment size controls
switching between two different modes of movement
Date: May 10, 2018
Source: PLOS
Summary:
Ants working together to carry a
large piece of food get around obstacles by switching between two types of
motion: one that favors squeezing the morsel through a hole and another to seek
a path around the barrier.
Ants working together to carry a
large piece of food get around obstacles by switching between two types of
motion: one that favors squeezing the morsel through a hole and another to seek
a path around the barrier. Jonathan Ron of the Weizmann Institute, Israel, and
colleagues present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology.
When carrying large food items
such as worms or maggots, ants often face obstacles in their path. The
cooperating ants need to reach a consensus and decide on a new route to their
nest. Previous studies have shown that alternating, side-to-side motions can
help ants get around an obstacle, but what drives this motion and determines
whether it will happen has been unclear.
Ron and colleagues built a
mathematical model that simulates ants' behavior when facing a rigid barrier
with a narrow hole. The simulations suggest that ants randomly switch between
two modes of motion, one in which they dwell near the hole, providing a chance
to pass food through it, and another in which sideways motions allow them to
seek their way around the obstacle. Switching between modes ensures the ants do
not get stuck in a single mode without finding a solution.
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