Ant colonies are likely able to access food locations by multiple paths that can vary predictably in length or mortality risk. To favor one path over another requires ants to perceive, communicate and act upon important differences in length and risk between paths. Here, we present replicate Linepithema humile colonies with four equal-length paths to a sugar source. The paths vary in probabilities of encountering a risk cue that range from 0 to 100%. The risk cues were either live workers of an aggressive competitor (Liometopum occidentale: LO) or only formic acid (FA), a defensive chemical common in many formicine species. Both the probabilities of encounter and type of cue affected path preferences. Although across both cues the zero-risk path was most used, the use was not exclusive and patterns of response to the cues differed significantly. More ants were on all the paths when the cue was LO rather than FA, leading to a higher success rate at finding food. Worker numbers on paths with LO did decline over time as consistent with recognizing neighbors to be ‘dear enemies’ that are a reduced threat to the colony. Similarly, changes in path usage suggested that the FA cue also became viewed as less threatening over time when competitors were never simultaneously present. The results are consistent with L. humile exhibiting the behavioral plasticity and communicative ability needed to categorize and predict risk to efficiently collect food while defending against other ant species.

蚂蚁殖民地很可能能够通过多种途径进入食物位置，而这些途径的长度或死亡风险可能会发生变化。要使一条路径优先于另一条路径，需要蚂蚁感知，交流并根据路径之间的长度和风险上的重要差异采取行动。在这里，我们介绍了具有四个等长路径的糖源的线形人草洋甘菊克隆。路径遇到风险提示的概率从0到100％不等。风险提示可能是积极竞争者的活工人（西洋菊：LO）或仅甲酸（FA），这是许多甲酸物种中常见的一种防御性化学物质。遭遇的概率和提示的类型都会影响路径偏好。尽管在两个提示中使用的都是零风险路径，但并不是唯一的用法，并且对提示的响应方式也有显着差异。当提示是LO而不是FA时，所有路径上都有更多的蚂蚁，导致寻找食物的成功率更高。带LO的道路上的工人人数确实随着时间的推移而下降，这与确认邻居是“亲爱的敌人”（减少对殖民地的威胁）一致。同样，路径使用方式的变化表明，FA提示随着时间的流逝而变得越来越少，而竞争对手从来没有同时出现过。结果与L. humile一致 表现出对行为进行分类和预测的能力，以进行分类和预测风险，以有效地收集食物，同时防御其他蚂蚁物种。