Interaction patterns and task allocation in ant colonies

Social insect colonies must accomplish many tasks, such as foraging, tending brood, constructing a nest, and so on. Task allocation is the process that adjusts the numbers of workers engaged in each task. This chapter discusses how information from other individuals is used in task decisions, and in particular, how workers use the pattern of interactions they experience, rather than the content of messages received. Empirical studies of harvester ants led to a mathematical model of task allocation in which environmental stimuli and interaction patterns both influence an individual’s task. I outline the main results from this model, and describe recent empirical work that begins to examine how interaction patterns contribute to task allocation in harvester ants.

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