| Description |
We investigate how worker rules and battle conditions affect the overall behavior of territorial battles, battle initiation, and community structure in ants of the genus Tetramorium. Battles are modeled with partial differential equations describing how workers move through the battle and return to the nest to recruit. The probability of battle initiation was investigated for different worker rules and initial conditions using a two-dimensional individual-based simulation. We extend the model for battles to find a distribution of territory sizes for a one-dimensional community and include a model for colony founding, growth, decline, and death. We find that the class of workers in the battle using information to make decisions affects battle dynamics with a Hopf bifurcation, where battles change from having steady state solutions to oscillations, occurring when 34% or more grappling workers are using information. Larger colonies are able to control more territory than the break even point proportional to colony size. Initial conditions followed by recruitment response have the strongest effect on the probability of battle initiation, suggesting that some outside stimulation may be required to initiate a battle. Total ants in the community are sensitive to the lifespan of the colony and how many workers survive from one year to the next. Diversity and total number of colonies were sensitive to recruitment rate and which ants used information in the battle with lower diversity and total colonies when recruitment is high and information is used by grappling workers in the battle. |
