4 March 2004
Ants: Gridlock tackled head-on
Garden ants solve quite complex problems of traffic control as they go about their everyday tasks. Can urban planners learn from them when designing traffic networks through our cities? The answer is a qualified yes, since an important component of the ants' method is the head-on collision. When an ant scout discovers a food source, it lays an odour trail that other ants then use and in turn, reinforce the trail as they come back with the food. A study of how ants 'manage' traffic flow on a crowded, branched pathway shows that pheromone-based amplification of the route combines with inhibitory physical actions — bumping into each other — to develop a route network that enables the colony to bring food back to the nest despite the crowded conditions.
Optimal traffic organization in ants under crowded
conditions
AUDREY DUSSUTOUR, VINCENT FOURCASSIÉ, DIRK HELBING
& JEAN-LOUIS DENEUBOURG
Nature 428, 70–73 (2004); doi:10.1038/nature02345
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