Wednesday 16 May 2018

Food-carrying ants use collective problem solving to get through or around obstacles



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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