Mathematical modelling on avoidance-to-acceptance transition in leaf cutting ant colonies

Abstract

Background/Objectives: To analyze the behaviors of Forager ants and to utilize some form of memory as a warning system of possible harm to all other members of a colony. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Ants acquire experiential memory within a generation. Experience is shared among members of the colony. For instance, knowledge about an unsuitable leaf is shared by means of avoidance, which is subsequently reinforced by autocatalysis. The loss of avoidance thus marks the loss of past knowledge of the unsuitability of a set of leaves. Findings: In this research, the highly social behavior of ants, a colony appears to act as a collective entity that is more than the sum of its parts. An individual ant to possess the level of intelligence that enables complex decision-making, the colony made up of such individuals appear to exhibit such complex task. The interactions between individual ants in the colony seem to synchronize with each other and align with group tasks. Ants interact with one another by means of basic signaling protocols, such as trophallaxis among leaf-cutting ants. Applications/Improvements: The system has capacity of the ant colony to exhibit transitions from one collective decision and colony memory to the next. The colony of leaf-cutting antscan switch from avoidance to acceptance of leaves which had been deemed unsuitable due to the presence of unwarranted chemical compounds. The transition is not as gradual as one would expect but rather abrupt as evident in the intake rates measured.