TABLE OF CONTENTS: List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Chapter 1: The Ant Colony as a Complex System 1
Chapter 2: Colony Organization 14
The Diversity of Ant Behavior 14
From Individual to Collective Behavior 19
Division of Labor 25
Ants Switch Tasks 30
Age Polyethism 33
What Ants Respond To 37
Task Allocation 41
Chapter 3: Interaction Networks 45
What Happens at Network Nodes 47
The Pattern of Interaction Is the Message 49
Rate and Memory 57
Individual Variation 83
Species Differences 67
Chapter 4: Colony Size 75
Colony Growth 75
Task Allocation and Colony Size 83
Ecology, Behavior, and Mature Colony Size 90
Chapter 5: Relations with Neighbors 96
Relations with Neighbors of the Same Species 97
Interactions between Species 107
Invasive Species 112
From Ecology to Behavior 117
Chapter 6: Ant Evolution 121
Coevolution of Ants and Plants 121
Evolution of Colony Organization 125
Natural Selection in Action 131
Chapter 7: Modeling Ant Behavior 141
Notes 147
Index 165
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