Hierarchical networks of food exchange in the black garden ant Lasius niger

In most eusocial insects, the division of labor results in relatively few individuals foraging for the entire colony. Thus, the survival of the colony depends on its efficiency in meeting the nutritional needs of all its members. Here, we characterize the network topology of a eusocial insect to understand the role and centrality of each caste in this network during the process of food dissemination. We constructed trophallaxis networks from 34 food-exchange experiments in black garden ants (Lasius niger). We tested the influence of brood and colony size on (i) global indices at the network level (i.e., efficiency, resilience, centralization, and modularity) and (ii) individual values (i.e., degree, strength, betweenness, and the clustering coefficient). Network resilience, the ratio between global efficiency and centralization, was stable with colony size but increased in the presence of broods, presumably in response to the nutritional needs of larvae. Individual metrics highlighted the major role of foragers in food dissemination. In addition, a hierarchical clustering analysis suggested that some domestics acted as intermediaries between foragers and other domestics. Networks appeared to be hierarchical rather than random or centralized exclusively around foragers. Finally, our results suggested that networks emerging from social insect interactions can improve group performance and thus colony fitness.