Can ant colonies choose a far-and-away better nest over an in-the-way poor one?
Nest choice in the ant Temnothorax albipennis is a model system for investigating collective decision making. Previous research has demonstrated the sophistication of this decentralized system, yet such studies have focused on binary choices in which alternative nest sites are equidistant from the colony’s original nest. In nature, for example, a poor nest might be […]
Behaviour-mediated group size effect constrains reproductive decisions in a social insect
The formation of cooperative entities between lower-level units is characterized by increasing complexity. Apart from the degree of cooperation, social complexity is determined by the number of cooperative individuals. Previous studies have considered the relationships between group size and traits affecting inclusive fitness, such as reproductive efficiency. In social insects, little is known about the […]
Speed–cohesion trade-offs in collective decision making in ants and the concept of precision in animal behaviour
In decision making, speed–accuracy trade-offs are well known and often inevitable because accuracy depends on being well informed and gathering information takes time. However, trade-offs between speed and cohesion, that is the degree to which a group remains together as a single entity, as a result of their decision making, have been comparatively neglected. We […]