Nests of social insects are an important area for the exchange of food and information among workers. We investigated how the topology of nest chambers (as opposed to nest size or environmental factors) affects the spatial distribution of nestmates and the foraging behavior of Myrmica rubra ant colonies. Colonies were housed in artificial nests, each with same-sized chambers differing in the spatial arrangement of galleries. A highly connected central chamber favored higher occupancy rates and a more homogeneous distribution of ants across chambers. In contrast, a chain of successive chambers led to a more heterogeneous distribution of ants, with the occupancy of a chamber chiefly mediated by its distance to the entrance. Irrespective of nest topology, the entrance chamber housed the largest proportion of ants, often including the queen, which exhibited a preference for staying in densely populated chambers. Finally, we investigated how nest topology influenced nestmate recruitment. Surprisingly, a highly connected chamber in the center of the nest did not promote greater recruitment nor activation of ants. At the onset of foraging, the largest number of moving ants was reached in the topology where the most connected chamber was the nest entrance. Later in the process, we found that a chain of successive chambers was the best topology for promoting ant’s mobilization. Our work demonstrates that nest topology can shape the spatial organization and the collective response of ant colonies, thereby taking part in their adaptative strategies to exploit environmental resources.

中文翻译：

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巢状拓扑对红蚂蚁Myrmica rubra中空间组织和募集的影响。

社交昆虫的巢穴是工人之间交换食物和信息的重要区域。我们研究的巢室的拓扑结构（相对于窝的大小或环境因素）如何影响nestmates的空间分布和觅食行为Myrmica杨梅蚁群。殖民地被安置在人工巢中，每个巢都有大小相同的小室，但画廊的空间布置不同。高度连通的中央室有利于更高的占用率，并且蚂蚁在各个室中的分布更均匀。相反，一连串连续的小室导致蚂蚁的分布更加不均一，小室的占用主要是由其与入口的距离所介导的。不论巢状拓扑如何，进入房间都可以容纳最大比例的蚂蚁，通常包括蚁后，它们倾向于留在人口稠密的房间中。最后，我们研究了巢状拓扑如何影响巢状对象的募集。令人惊讶的是，巢中心的高度连通的腔室并没有促进蚂蚁的更大募集或活化。觅食开始时 在拓扑结构中，移动蚂蚁的数量最多，其中连接最紧密的腔室是巢穴入口。在此过程的后期，我们发现一系列连续的小室是促进蚂蚁动员的最佳拓扑。我们的工作表明，巢状拓扑结构可以塑造蚁群的空间组织和集体反应，从而参与其适应性战略以开发环境资源。