A Magnetic-like Model for Chemotactic Navigation in Ants

TL;DR

This paper introduces a physical model treating ant chemotactic trail following as a magnetic-like interaction, supported by experiments showing oscillatory motion and analytical velocity correlation predictions.

Contribution

It presents a novel magnetic-like framework for ant navigation, linking experimental oscillatory behavior with an analytical model of chemotactic dynamics.

Findings

Model predicts oscillatory decay in velocity correlations.

Experimental data supports the model's qualitative predictions.

Parameter fitting shows consistency between theory and individual trajectories.

Abstract

We propose a physical framework for ant navigation of chemical trails. For this, we use controlled experiments in which individuals follow narrow pheromone trails, for which ants display oscillatory motion, as previously reported in the literature. We model this behavior by treating chemotaxis as an effective magnetic interaction between the ant velocity and the local chemical gradient. Under suitable approximations, the model yields an analytical expression for the velocity correlations in the direction perpendicular to the trail, predicting an underdamped oscillatory decay. This theoretical prediction is in qualitative agreement with our experimental measurements, indicating that the model captures the essential dynamical features of ant trail following. We fit the model parameters to individual trajectories in order to assess the consistency of the underlying assumptions, finding the same parameter relationship in both theory and experiment. Our results contribute to the characterization of chemotactic navigation in ants and illustrate how physical modeling can provide mechanistic insights into complex biological dynamics.