Nests Are Dynamic

brown ants with eggs in colony during the day

Biological Strategy

Rock ant

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Adapt Behaviors

The environment is constantly changing, and if living systems can’t adapt to these changes, they don’t survive. Environmental changes can be cyclic such as seasons, sudden such as floods or forest fires, or gradual but long-term, such as ecosystems shifting from early to mature stages. These changes require some flexibility in behavioral responses to match the specific conditions. For example, as a fish called the lamprey swims, it constantly faces changes in currents. Skin sensors help it detect those changes and adjust its motion accordingly.

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Insects

Class Insecta (“an insect”): Flies, ants, beetles, cockroaches, fleas, dragonflies

Insects are the most abundant arthropods—they make up 90% of the animals in the phylum. They’re found everywhere on earth except the deep ocean, and scientists estimate there are millions of insects not yet described. Most live on land, but many live in freshwater or saltwater marshes for part of their life cycles. Insects have three distinct body sections: a head, which has specialized mouthparts, a thorax, which has jointed legs, and an abdomen. They have well-developed nervous and sensory systems, and are the only invertebrate that can fly, thanks to their lightweight exoskeletons and small size.

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Temnothorax ants adjust to colony growth or diminution by shedding and reconstructing their nests.

Introduction

Ants are masters of many trades. They can lift phenomenal relative weights, build structures that rival the engineering feats of humans, and even farm other insects. And at least one species knows how to renovate.

The Strategy

As a colony of Temnothorax albipennis ants grows, the ants must periodically shed their old nest walls and rebuild new ones to accommodate the increased number of workers. Interestingly, they will also close up unneeded space when the population decreases.

The Potential

The ability of ants to shed and rebuild their nests provides inspiration for designing structures that can be adapted to changing needs. For example, the walls of a building could be made from modular blocks that can be added or removed as the occupancy of the building changes. Alternatively, the shedding and rebuilding process could be used to repair damage to a structure.

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Last Updated September 6, 2022

References

“The ontogeny of wall building by colonies of the ant Temnothorax [formerly Leptothorax] albipennis involves discontinuous rebuilding events that are reminiscent of moulting in insects…Our results suggest for the first time that history influences wall building in ants when worker density decreases (e.g. with colony diminution) as well as when it increases (e.g. with colony growth) as shown by earlier work. Furthermore, we found that ants used a greater number of the larger building blocks (big sand grains) both after cavity expansion and, more surprisingly, also after cavity contraction. The pattern of nest ‘moulting’ we experimentally manipulated and analysed should provide insights into possible trade-offs between the various functions and structural properties of the nest that these animals may have to optimize.” (Aleksiev et al. 2007:567)

Journal article

Nest ‘moulting’ in the ant Temnothorax albipennis

Animal Behaviour | 23/08/2007 | Antony S. Aleksiev, Ana B. Sendova-Franks, Nigel R. Franks

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