| Title: | Seasonality in communication and collective decision-making in ants |
| Author(s): | Stroeymeyt N; Jordan C; Mayer G; Hovsepian S; Giurfa M; Franks NR; |
| Address: | "School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, , Bristol BS8 1UG, UK, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Universite de Toulouse, , Toulouse, France, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, CNRS, , Toulouse, France" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1471-2954 (Electronic) 0962-8452 (Print) 0962-8452 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The ability of animals to adjust their behaviour according to seasonal changes in their ecology is crucial for their fitness. Eusocial insects display strong collective behavioural seasonality, yet the mechanisms underlying such changes are poorly understood. We show that nest preference by emigrating Temnothorax albipennis ant colonies is influenced by a season-specific modulatory pheromone that may help tune decision-making according to seasonal constraints. The modulatory pheromone triggers aversion towards low-quality nests and enhances colony cohesion in summer and autumn, but not after overwintering-in agreement with reports that field colonies split in spring and reunite in summer. Interestingly, we show that the pheromone acts by downgrading the perceived value of marked nests by informed and naive individuals. This contrasts with theories of collective intelligence, stating that accurate collective decision-making requires independent evaluation of options by individuals. The violation of independence highlighted here was accordingly shown to increase error rate during emigrations. However, this is counterbalanced by enhanced cohesion and the transmission of valuable information through the colony. Our results support recent claims that optimal decisions are not necessarily those that maximize accuracy. Other criteria-such as cohesion or reward rate-may be more relevant in animal decision-making" |
| Keywords: | "*Animal Communication Animals Ants/*physiology *Behavior, Animal Cues Decision Making Homing Behavior *Seasons Temnothorax accuracy versus cohesion chemical communication collective decision-making independence seasonal polydomy;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineStroeymeyt, N Jordan, C Mayer, G Hovsepian, S Giurfa, M Franks, N R eng BB/G02166X/1/BB_/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2014/02/14 Proc Biol Sci. 2014 Feb 12; 281(1780):20133108. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.3108. Print 2014 Apr 7" |
