期刊
BIOLOGY LETTERS
卷 7, 期 4, 页码 521-524出版社
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0067
关键词
synergy; trail pheromone; route memory; multiple information sources
资金
- BBSRC
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) [PA00P3_129134]
- Sussex University
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [PA00P3_129134] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Insect societies integrate many information sources to organize collective activities such as foraging. Many ants use trail pheromones to guide foragers to food sources, but foragers can also use memories to find familiar locations of stable food sources. Route memories are often more accurate than trail pheromones in guiding ants, and are often followed in preference to trail pheromones when the two conflict. Why then does the system expend effort in producing and acquiring seemingly redundant and low-quality information, such as trail pheromones, when route memory is available? Here we show that, in the ant Lasius niger, trail pheromones and route memory act synergistically during foraging; increasing walking speed and straightness by 25 and 30 per cent, respectively, and maintaining trail pheromone deposition, but only when used together. Our results demonstrate a previously undescribed major role of trail pheromones: to complement memory by allowing higher confidence in route memory. This highlights the importance of multiple interacting information sources in the efficient running of complex adaptive systems.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据