Ant Encounters: Interaction Networks and Colony Behavior

Deborah M. Gordon

Mar 2010 · Princeton University Press

About this eBook

How do ant colonies get anything done, when no one is in charge? An ant colony operates without a central control or hierarchy, and no ant directs another. Instead, ants decide what to do based on the rate, rhythm, and pattern of individual encounters and interactions--resulting in a dynamic network that coordinates the functions of the colony. Ant Encounters provides a revealing and accessible look into ant behavior from this complex systems perspective.

Focusing on the moment-to-moment behavior of ant colonies, Deborah Gordon investigates the role of interaction networks in regulating colony behavior and relations among ant colonies. She shows how ant behavior within and between colonies arises from local interactions of individuals, and how interaction networks develop as a colony grows older and larger. The more rapidly ants react to their encounters, the more sensitively the entire colony responds to changing conditions. Gordon explores whether such reactive networks help a colony to survive and reproduce, how natural selection shapes colony networks, and how these structures compare to other analogous complex systems.

Ant Encounters sheds light on the organizational behavior, ecology, and evolution of these diverse and ubiquitous social insects.

Ratings and reviews

its a great journey with ants while reading these pages, the author who studied ants for decades , show many aspects in the life of ants ,it show how studying ants helped in the great sectors of science which include cybernetics,and robotics,this book is good for normal people and as well for professional in my opinion , its not a detailed study but it sail with you in different parts of the lives of ants species ,its amazing to feel the unseen intelligence that govern nature that you sense when you study creatures ,this book simply introduce you to a great nation of species "the amazing Ant nation":-)

About the author

Deborah M. Gordon is professor of biology at Stanford University. She is the author of Ants at Work (Norton).