Biology subjects

Fernandez-Lopez, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Fernandez-Lopez, P..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Between specialization and flexibility: how tasks and space shape behavioral profiles in ant colonies

Task allocation in eusocial insects has long been studied under the framework of division of labor, implying a relatively rigid association between individuals and tasks. However, most eusocial species lack morphological specialization, and workers regularly switch tasks as colony demands change. This raises a fundamental question: do tasks shape the behavioral profiles of workers, or does individual behavioral variation cut across task boundaries? We addressed this in a controlled laboratory study of Aphaenogaster senilis ants, comparing the behavioral profiles of four task groups (scouts, recruits, nurses, and necrophores) spatially segregated by their location within the colony setup and subsequently tested individually in four ecologically relevant contexts. This multivariate profiling, still rarely applied in ants, revealed that some tasks impose clear behavioral specialization (scouting, brood care), whereas others do not (recruitment, necrophoresis). Critically, this specialization appears in foraging-related tasks, whereas sociality does not: it varies considerably among workers, even within a single task group. Behavioral specialization, therefore, exists, but not across every dimension of behavior, and it is not a fixed property of the task. These results suggest that workers may differ in their readiness to shift roles depending on the task at hand, and this variation may in turn shape how colonies adapt to environmental change. More broadly, our results speak to a question central to collective behavior research well beyond ants: how individual variability translates into functional structure at the group level.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2026

Dynamic Workforce Modulation and Foraging Efficiency in Eusocial Insect Colonies

Understanding the fitness advantages conferred by eusociality remains a central challenge in behavioral ecology. One promising approach is to identify collective strategies that shift efficiency within social groups. Here, we test the hypothesis that reserve workforces in eusocial insect colonies represent an adaptive mechanism that enhances flexibility and foraging efficiency under fluctuating environmental conditions. We examine how such reserve workers modulate the departure and return rates of foragers and how these time-dependent dynamics shape the colonys overall energetic balance. By integrating an energetic-balance framework with stochastic search simulations inspired by empirical results from Aphaenogaster senilis, we quantify the energetic requirements for colony viability, incorporating energy intake, search costs, and basal metabolic demands. Our results show that as colonies grow, maintaining a positive energy balance requires a disproportionately larger relative workforce. By modulating departure and return rates over time, colonies control the synchrony of their collective search and efficiently activate or suppress their reserve workforce to scale foraging effort as needed. These findings suggest that the "lazy" or weakly engaged workers commonly observed in large colonies function as an essential reserve that stabilizes colony energetics and enhances responsiveness. Together, our results provide a functional explanation for sublinear metabolic scaling in eusocial groups and highlight workforce modulation as a key factor underlying their energetic stability and evolutionary success.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

Foraging Ants as Liquid Brains: Movement Heterogeneity Shapes Collective Efficiency

Liquid brains conceptualize living systems operating without central control, where collective outcomes emerge from local but dynamic interactions. Therefore, movement is expected to shape the connectivity among individuals, allowing the system to optimize its efficiency. We empirically measured ant movement behavior across large spatiotemporal scales, closely reflecting the ecology of our model species, Aphaenogaster senilis. We then incorporated this into a liquid brain framework, enabling a quantitative replication of ant foraging efficiency and their spatiotemporal dynamics. Our results highlight that a simple feedback mechanism explains the foraging patterns of this species. Indeed, such feedback is modulated by adjusting the proportion of two coexisting movement behaviors: while the recruits facilitated information transfer and food exploitation by aggregating closely to the nest, the scouts mostly bypassed this feedback, enabling the discovery of alternative food sources. These findings underscore how complex systems frameworks can benefit from empirical insights, enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying collective intelligence in biological systems.

ecology↗