COMPLEX TRAILS AND SIMPLE ALGORITHMS IN ANT FORAGING

Self-organization can account for certain patterns of behaviour in soc ial insects, and simple rules of interaction between individuals can l ead to emergent patterns in the colony. We demonstrate algorithms that enable an ant colony to solve complex path choice problems. It is pos sible for the colony to select one foraging site out of many without a ny global knowledge or comparative judgements by individual ants. We s how how this can lead to a greatly enhanced probability of each forage returning to the nest with food.