title: Use of radio-tagging to map spatial organization and social interactions in insects.
abstract: Understanding of the organization of animal societies often requires knowledge of the identity of group members and their spatial location. We propose an original experimental design to track automatically the position of individuals using radio frequency identification technology (RFID). Ants equipped with passive transponders were detected by a reader mounted on a mobile arm moving across the nest surface. We developed an algorithm to accurately extract the positions of individuals moving in two dimensions. Our method was validated on synthetic test cases and then used for characterization of the spatial distribution of ants within nests. This approach provides an amenable system for monitoring large populations of individuals over long periods of time.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, CNRS, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arrufat
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Latil
authors.forename: Raphaël
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jeanson
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D057233:Radio Frequency Identification Device / Q000379:methods*; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology / Q000379:methods*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology*