Ant Recruitment

Team: 3

School: AIMS@UNM

Area of Science: Animal Science

Interim: Problem Definition:

Pogonomyrmex rugosus is a species of large black ants. They are the most widespread species of ants in North America. The goal of this project is to determine whether ants communicate using pheromones. The ants would walk randomly from the colony until it finds a pile of seeds than as it returns to the colony it lays down a pheromone trail that will attract the other ants leaving the colony. we are going to set the program exactly the way it was set up in real life. For the rugosus there was one pile with two hundred and fifty six seeds that are colored red, 4 piles of sixty four seeds that are colored purple, 16 piles of 16 seeds that are colored green, and two hundred and fifty six individual seeds that are colored blue. For the maricopa and desertorum there was one pile with sixty four six seeds that are colored red, 4 piles of 16 seeds that are colored purple, thirty two piles of two seeds that are colored green, and sixty four individual seeds that are colored blue.

Problem Solution:

We are going to compare a computer program that will illustrate what would happen if the ants were to communicate and compare the numbers with the numbers from the data that was taken on the field. We are going to take the ANOVA (An Analysis Of Variance) test for the computer illustration as well as the data and see if the P numbers are similar. The ANOVA tests the probability that what the ants do to collect the large pile of seeds if a random occurrence so the smaller the p value the more likely there is an intelligent system behind their foraging system. The ants will lay down a pheromone trail, the decay rate of which would be modeled by the half-life equation, Poe^(rt). The strength of the trail’s affect on the ants would increase as more ants follow the trail.

Progress to Date:

We have a mentor who I am in close contact with who knows the program that we are using and she knows more about the experiment, as she was the one originally collecting the data. Seeing as one of our members helped her to collect data, she has offered to help us with our computer model, and we have had several meetings with her. In these meetings, we discussed what kind of language would be best for our model, specifics of the code, and problem areas within these categories.

Expected Results:

We are attempting to achieve <5% P value, which is the scientific standard for probability. This number represents the probability that the rate at which the larger pile of seeds is brought back to the colony is random, and not related to the pheromone trails. Having a value lower than 5% would mean that the ants exhibit a characteristic of having an intelligent system for gathering seeds and that is also what was found in the field observation.


Team Members: Stefan Klosterman, Nico Ponder, Jordan Medlock, Erik Johnson

Team Members:

  Nico Ponder
  Stefan Klosterman
  Jordan Medlock
  Erik Johnson

Sponsoring Teacher: Terrence Lebeck

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