title: A mathematical and experimental study of ant foraging trail dynamics.
abstract: In this article, we present a mathematical model coupled to an experimental study of ant foraging trails. Our laboratory experiments on Tetramorium caespitum do not find a strong relationship between ant densities and velocities, a common assumption in traffic modeling. Rather, we find that higher order effects play a major role in observed behavior, and our model reflects this by including inertial terms in the evolution equation. A linearization of the resulting system yields left- and right-moving waves, in agreement with laboratory measurements. The linearized system depends upon Froude numbers reflecting a ratio of the energy stored in the foraging trail to the kinetic energy of the ants. The model predicts and the measurements support the existence of two distinct phase velocities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Louis F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Rossi
mesh_terms: D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D008954:Models, Biological; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D010675:Pheromones / Q000502:physiology; D011156:Population Density
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones