Influence of food density on colony size of Pogonomyrmex barbatus

摘要

Red harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, allocate themselves to some tasks: foraging, midden work, nest maintenance etc. In this paper, we propose the macro model of their behavior by PDE. In this model, colony size, that is the total number of ants in a colony, fluctuates due to workers' birth and death. And then, using the simulator which is based on this model, we investigate the relationship between colony size and the density of food in the field.