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Fast and Flexible: Argentine Ants Recruit from Nearby Trails

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  • Tatiana P Flanagan
  • Noa M Pinter-Wollman
  • Melanie E Moses
  • Deborah M Gordon

Abstract

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) live in groups of nests connected by trails to each other and to stable food sources. In a field study, we investigated whether some ants recruit directly from established, persistent trails to food sources, thus accelerating food collection. Our results indicate that Argentine ants recruit nestmates to food directly from persistent trails, and that the exponential increase in the arrival rate of ants at baits is faster than would be possible if recruited ants traveled from distant nests. Once ants find a new food source, they walk back and forth between the bait and sometimes share food by trophallaxis with nestmates on the trail. Recruiting ants from nearby persistent trails creates a dynamic circuit, like those found in other distributed systems, which facilitates a quick response to changes in available resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatiana P Flanagan & Noa M Pinter-Wollman & Melanie E Moses & Deborah M Gordon, 2013. "Fast and Flexible: Argentine Ants Recruit from Nearby Trails," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(8), pages 1-7, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0070888
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070888
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nigel R. Franks & Tom Richardson, 2006. "Teaching in tandem-running ants," Nature, Nature, vol. 439(7073), pages 153-153, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Arjun Chandrasekhar & James A R Marshall & Cortnea Austin & Saket Navlakha & Deborah M Gordon, 2021. "Better tired than lost: Turtle ant trail networks favor coherence over short edges," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(10), pages 1-24, October.

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