Mechanistic modeling of alarm signaling in seed-harvester ants

Abstract

<abstract><p>Ant colonies demonstrate a finely tuned alarm response to potential threats, offering a uniquely manageable empirical setting for exploring adaptive information diffusion within groups. To effectively address potential dangers, a social group must swiftly communicate the threat throughout the collective while conserving energy in the event that the threat is unfounded. Through a combination of modeling, simulation, and empirical observations of alarm spread and damping patterns, we identified the behavioral rules governing this adaptive response. Experimental trials involving alarmed ant workers (<italic>Pogonomyrmex californicus</italic>) released into a tranquil group of nestmates revealed a consistent pattern of rapid alarm propagation followed by a comparatively extended decay period ^{[<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b1">1</xref>]}. The experiments in ^{[<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b1">1</xref>]} showed that individual ants exhibiting alarm behavior increased their movement speed, with variations in response to alarm stimuli, particularly during the peak of the reaction. We used the data in ^{[<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b1">1</xref>]} to investigate whether these observed characteristics alone could account for the swift mobility increase and gradual decay of alarm excitement. Our self-propelled particle model incorporated a switch-like mechanism for ants' response to alarm signals and individual variations in the intensity of speed increased after encountering these signals. This study aligned with the established hypothesis that individual ants possess cognitive abilities to process and disseminate information, contributing to collective cognition within the colony (see ^{[<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b2">2</xref>]} and the references therein). The elements examined in this research support this hypothesis by reproducing statistical features of the empirical speed distribution across various parameter values.</p></abstract>