Fluxo de informação na regulação do forrageio em Dinoponera quadriceps

Abstract

Social interactions between workers in a colony do not happen randomly, since workers decide how often they will interact and who they will interact with. Interactions rate in the colony are regulated by the density of individuals it contains and through which can quickly transfer information in the colony, causing changes in network dynamics. In order to analyze the flow of information among workers of Dinoponera quadriceps we investigated two colonies based on the number of workers and larvae in the nest, number of individual interactions, number of outputs, 'strength' and 'reach of each interaction, and also the information flow at different times. The study was conducted in the Behavioral Biology Laboratory at UFRN. Two colonies with different densities of workers were observed for 16h/colony, totaling 8 hours/day by recording using a digital camera. Colonies of D. quadriceps showed no correlation between the total number of interactions with the total number of workers nor to the number of nest exits. The per capita rates of interactions showed a similar pattern in both colonies, being higher during the food availability periods. The colony with lower density of workers had more interactions per individual, especially on the day and period with food, and these interactions got stronger and greater range. The dynamics of social networks also showed a similar pattern among colonies, with greater flow of information during the feeding time. Based on these results we conclude that workers of D. quadriceps regulate foraging activity through self-stimulation, as well as with their contact rates by increasing the number of interactions when food was offered to the colony, changing the flow of information and increasing dissemination of information.