record dynamics in ants记录动态蚂蚁.pdfVIP

Record Dynamics in Ants 1,2 3 4,5 4,6 2 Thomas O. Richardson *, Elva J. H. Robinson , Kim Christensen , Henrik J. Jensen , Nigel R. Franks , Ana B. Sendova-Franks1 1 Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Bristol Institute of Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom, 2 School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Biology and York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis, University of York, York, United Kingdom, 4 Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, 5 Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, 6 Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom Abstract The success of social animals (including ourselves) can be attributed to efficiencies that arise from a division of labour. Many animal societies have a communal nest which certain individuals must leave to perform external tasks, for example foraging or patrolling. Staying at home to care for young or leaving to find food is one of the most fundamental divisions of labour. It is also often a choice between safety and danger. Here we explore the regulation of departures from ant nests. We consider the extreme situation in which no one returns and show experimentally that exiting decisions seem to be governed by fluctuating record signals and ant-ant interactions. A record signal is a new ‘high water mark’ in the history of a system. An ant exiting the nest only when the record signal reaches a level it has never perceived before could be a very effective mechanism to postpone, until the last possible moment, a potentially fatal decision. We also show