1. No coordination required for resources allocation during colony fission in a social insect? An individual-based model reproduces empirical patterns
- Author
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Thibaud Monnin, François Lavallée, Guillaume Chérel, Institut des Systèmes Complexes - Paris Ile-de-France (ISC-PIF), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Institut Curie [Paris]-École polytechnique (X)-École normale supérieure - Cachan (ENS Cachan)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAe, UR LISC, Centre de Clermont-Ferrand, 63178 Aubière, France, École normale supérieure - Cachan (ENS Cachan)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-École polytechnique (X)-Institut Curie [Paris]-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES Paris), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École normale supérieure - Cachan (ENS Cachan)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-École polytechnique (X)-Institut Curie [Paris]-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'ingénierie pour les systèmes complexes (UR LISC), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Curie [Paris]-Sorbonne Université (SU)-École polytechnique (X)-École normale supérieure - Cachan (ENS Cachan)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1), École normale supérieure - Cachan (ENS Cachan)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Curie [Paris]-École polytechnique (X), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES Paris ), and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Insecta ,Computer science ,NetLogo ,Process (engineering) ,Behavioural sciences ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,ants ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,decision making ,Resource Allocation ,Task (project management) ,Microeconomics ,03 medical and health sciences ,Animals ,OpenMole ,Social Behavior ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,030304 developmental biology ,computer.programming_language ,0303 health sciences ,model calibration ,Ant colony ,Cataglyphis piliscapa ,Resource allocation ,Nesting (computing) ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,Relocation ,computer - Abstract
International audience; Social insects are classic examples of cooperation and coordination. For instance, laboratory studies of colony relocation, or house-hunting, have investigated how workers coordinate their efforts to swiftly move the colony to the best nesting site available while preserving colony integrity, i.e. avoiding a split. However, several studies have shown that, in some other contexts, individuals may use private rather than social information and may act solitarily rather than in a coordinated way. Here, we study resource allocation by a mature ant colony when it reproduces by fissioning into several colonies. This is a very different task than house-hunting in that colony fission seeks the split of the colony. We develop a simple individual-based model to test if colony fission and resource allocation may be carried out by workers acting solitarily with no coordination. Our model reproduces well the pattern of allocation observed in nature (number and size of new colonies). This does not show that workers do not communicate nor coordinate. Rather, it suggests that independent decision making may be an important component of the process of resource allocation.
- Published
- 2021