Social dilemma in foraging behavior and evolution of cooperation by learning

Abstract

We consider foraging behaviors in a two-dimensional continuum space and show that a cooperative chasing strategy can emerge in a social dilemma. Predators can use two different chasing strategies: A direct chasing strategy (DCS) and a group chasing strategy (GCS). The DCS is a selfish strategy with which a chaser moves straight toward the nearest prey, and the GCS is a cooperative strategy in the sense that the chaser chooses the chasing direction for the group at a cost of its own speed. A prey flees away from the nearest hazard, either a chaser or the boundary, within its recognition range. We check the capturing activities of each strategy and find a social dilemma between the two strategies because the GCS is more efficient for the group whereas the DCS is better individually. Using a series of numerical simulations, we further show that the cooperative strategy can proliferate when a learning process of nearby successful strategies is introduced.