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Heat-induced symmetry breaking in ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) escape behavior

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  • Yuan-Kai Chung
  • Chung-Chi Lin

Abstract

The collective egress of social insects is important in dangerous situations such as natural disasters or enemy attacks. Some studies have described the phenomenon of symmetry breaking in ants, with two exits induced by a repellent. However, whether symmetry breaking occurs under high temperature conditions, which are a common abiotic stress, remains unknown. In our study, we deposited a group of Polyrhachis dives ants on a heated platform and counted the number of escaping ants with two identical exits. We discovered that ants asymmetrically escaped through two exits when the temperature of the heated platform was >32.75°C. The degree of asymmetry increased linearly with the temperature of the platform. Furthermore, the higher the temperature of heated platform was, the more ants escaped from the heated platform. However, the number of escaping ants decreased for 3 min when the temperature was higher than the critical thermal limit (39.46°C), which is the threshold for ants to endure high temperature without a loss of performance. Moreover, the ants tended to form small groups to escape from the thermal stress. A preparatory formation of ant grouping was observed before they reached the exit, indicating that the ants actively clustered rather than accidentally gathered at the exits to escape. We suggest that a combination of individual and grouping ants may help to optimize the likelihood of survival during evacuation.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuan-Kai Chung & Chung-Chi Lin, 2017. "Heat-induced symmetry breaking in ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) escape behavior," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-12, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0173642
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173642
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Parisi, D.R. & Dorso, C.O., 2007. "Morphological and dynamical aspects of the room evacuation process," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 385(1), pages 343-355.
    2. Dirk Helbing & Illés Farkas & Tamás Vicsek, 2000. "Simulating dynamical features of escape panic," Nature, Nature, vol. 407(6803), pages 487-490, September.
    3. Wang, Shujie & Cao, Shuchao & Wang, Qiao & Lian, Liping & Song, Weiguo, 2016. "Effect of exit locations on ants escaping a two-exit room stressed with repellent," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 457(C), pages 239-254.
    4. Burd, Martin, 2006. "Ecological consequences of traffic organisation in ant societies," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 372(1), pages 124-131.
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiao, Hanyi & Wang, Qiao & Zhang, Jun & Song, Weiguo, 2019. "Experimental study on the single-file movement of mice," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 524(C), pages 676-686.
    2. Zhang, Teng & Zhang, Xuelin & Huang, Shenshi & Li, Changhai & Lu, Shouxiang, 2018. "Collective behavior of mice passing through an exit under panic," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 496(C), pages 233-242.

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