COMB BUILDING IN SOCIAL WASPS - SELF-ORGANIZATION AND STIGMERGIC SCRIPT

The characteristic round combs of social wasps contain individual cells for brood. Although the coherent and well-organized structure of this construction suggests its adaptive value for the colony, several mechanisms of comb building have not yet been elucidated. A self-organization model is presented here to demonstrate how the comb structure development arises from the dynamic interactions between wasps and the previously constructed comb. The model involves both the structuring of the environment by the group of wasps and the strong random component of the members of the individuals. It is assumed that every wasp has the same building program based on stigmergic script and that the walls of the cell can trigger further building, if their local configuration provides suitable stimuli. The comb structure is formed only by the accumulation of material. The building modes of wasps resulted in a more even surface and circumference, where the probability of further building becomes smaller. Simultaneously, with these events new cells emerge which produce new irregularities. Computer simulations depict some illustration of how the wasps can create an overall, global pattern of which they have no concept, using only local cues and simple behavioural rules. © 1993 Academic Press Limited.