Abstract
Individuals in social insect colonies cooperate to perform collective work. While colonies often respond to changing environmental conditions by flexibly reallocating workers to different tasks, the factors determining which workers switch and why are not well understood. Here, we use an automated tracking system to continuously monitor nest behavior and foraging activity of uniquely identified workers from entire bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) colonies foraging in a natural outdoor environment. We show that most foraging is performed by a small number of workers and that the intensity and distribution of foraging is actively regulated at the colony level in response to forager removal. By analyzing worker nest behavior before and after forager removal, we show that spatial fidelity of workers within the nest generates uneven interaction with relevant localized information sources, and predicts which workers initiate foraging after disturbance. Our results highlight the importance of spatial fidelity for structuring information flow and regulating collective behavior in social insect colonies.
Highlights
IntroductionSocial insects (i.e., ants, bees, wasps, and termites) are among the most ecologically dominant and evolutionarily successful animals on the planet
Social insects are among the most ecologically dominant and evolutionarily successful animals on the planet
Our results provide evidence for three key tenets supporting a functional role of spatial fidelity in flexible task allocation in bumble bees: (a) the existence of spatial fidelity among workers (Fig. 3), (b) a correlation between spatial fidelity and relevant information sources within the colony, and (c) a predictive role of spatial occupancy in determining which individuals respond to changing colony labor demands (Figs. 6, 7)
Summary
Social insects (i.e., ants, bees, wasps, and termites) are among the most ecologically dominant and evolutionarily successful animals on the planet. For example, removal of older foragers leads to precocious development of younger nurses to replace forager losses[14] Such flexible responses to disturbance are widespread in social insects ( not universal15) and often occur rapidly (e.g., within 2–3 min in the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus[16]). One aspect of individual variation hypothesized to play a central role in the collective behavior of social insect colonies is sensitivity to task-specific stimuli (e.g., food reserves as a stimulus for foraging, or temperature as a stimulus for thermoregulation). Sensitivity to these stimuli— known as response thresholds— may vary among individual workers, making certain workers more likely to perform particular tasks[39]. Previous theoretical work has shown that response thresholds can explain task specialization at the colony level[39,40], as well as worker flexibility in response to disturbance[40], consistent with empirical observations[6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
