dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaUnexpected trends in termite survival
| Authors | Og DeSouza, Octavio Miramontes |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0307043 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0307043 |
Abstract
Survival in groups of termites is known to be socially facilitated since individual longevity is increased together with the size of the group. Here we report on experimental evidence that survival as a function of group size in {\textit Cornitermes cumulans} (Kollar) does not increase asysmptotically but it peaks in a group size range at which individual longevity is maximal. Strinkly, this same effect in other social insects was noted more than fifty years ago, but it was regarded as ``aberrant'' since it has been generally assumed that individual survival should increase with the size of the group. We also provide evidence that individual activity --measured as mobility-- is maximal at approximately the same group-size range as the observed survival
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"abstract": "Survival in groups of termites is known to be socially facilitated since\nindividual longevity is increased together with the size of the group. Here we\nreport on experimental evidence that survival as a function of group size in\n{\\textit Cornitermes cumulans} (Kollar) does not increase asysmptotically but\nit peaks in a group size range at which individual longevity is maximal.\nStrinkly, this same effect in other social insects was noted more than fifty\nyears ago, but it was regarded as ``aberrant\u0027\u0027 since it has been generally\nassumed that individual survival should increase with the size of the group. We\nalso provide evidence that individual activity --measured as mobility-- is\nmaximal at approximately the same group-size range as the observed survival",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0307043",
"authors": [
"Og DeSouza",
"Octavio Miramontes"
],
"categories": [
"physics.bio-ph",
"q-bio"
],
"title": "Unexpected trends in termite survival",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0307043"
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