TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hönicke, Christiane
A1  - Bliss, Peter
A1  - Moritz, Robin F. A.
T1  - Effect of density on traffic and velocity on trunk trails of Formica pratensis
JF  - The science of nature
N2  - The allocation of large numbers of workers facilitates the swift intake of locally available resources which is essential for ant colony survival. To organise the traffic between nest and food source, the black-meadow ant Formica pratensis establishes permanent trunk trails, which are maintained by the ants. To unravel the ant organisation and potential traffic rules on these trails, we analysed velocity and lane segregation under various densities by experimentally changing feeding regimes. Even under the highest ant densities achieved, we never observed any traffic jams. On the contrary, velocity increased after supplementary feeding despite an enhanced density. Furthermore, inbound ants returning to the nest had a higher velocity than those leaving the colony. Whilst at low and medium density the ants used the centre of the trail, they used the full width of the trail at high density. Outbound ants also showed some degree of lane segregation which contributes to traffic organisation.
KW  - Density
KW  - Trunk trail
KW  - Traffic
KW  - Lateralization
KW  - Formica pratensis
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-015-1267-6
SN  - 0028-1042
SN  - 1432-1904
VL  - 102
IS  - 3-4
PB  - Springer
CY  - Heidelberg
ER  -