I was wondering if anyone ever studied the group-survival of ants as a function of group composition;
For instance, suppose you have a group of N ants, composed of 3/4 of minor workers and 1/4 of major workers. How long could this group survive? And how longer than a group composed of 1/2?
I would be really glad to know if there is any paper published that dealt with this problem.
Thanks.
Igor
Hello Igor; I'm presuming that the workforce you describe is part of an intact colony with queen(s) and brood. The genus Pheidole would be a good one to look at. Parts of the answer to your question might be found in...
Wilson, EO. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: a Dominant, Hyperdiverse ant Genus. Harvard Univ Press. It will give you some idea about the diversity of the genus. Wilson is probably the world's authority on the group and has published many papers on the nuances of colony structure. You can find many of them via Google Scholar. Cheers, Jim Des Lauriers
I think the aggressors will win. Remember Lord of the Flies?
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