A model for the emergence of pillars, walls and royal chambers in termite nests

Abstract

A simple model of the emergence of pillars in termite nests by Deneubourg is modified to include several additional features that break the homogeneity of the original model: (i) a convection air stream that drives molecules of pheromone along a given direction; (ii) a net flux of individuals in a specific direction; (iii) a well–defined self–maintained pheromone trail; and (iv) a pheromonal template representing the effect of the presence of a queen that continuously emits pheromone. It is shown that, under certain conditions, pillars are transformed into walls or galleries or chambers, and that this transformation may not be driven by any change in the termites' behaviour. Because the same type of response at the individual level can generate different patterns under different conditions, and because previous construction modifies current building conditions, we hypothesize that nest complexity can result from the unfolding of a morphogenetic process that progressively generates a diversity of history–dependent structures.