Electronics Engineering, AI Research / @_cantelli 
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Attack of legionary ants (also known as army ants or marabunta) to a wasp honeycomb. Impressive the level of swarm intelligence and collective computation to form that bridge.pic.twitter.com/StvDkmv8x8
When this type of attack happens, the wasps usually escape and the ants do not leave until they've completely looted the honeycomb, carrying pupae, larvae, and eggs, as well as some adults who did not manage to escape They can even build across the water!pic.twitter.com/cuQxQbCor0
At first I was thinking that this was merely a failure mode that happened when they decided to follow & build the bridge (premature optimization gone wrong). Or that there was something in the ceiling affecting the trail pheromones.
But then a biologist pointed out something more fundamental. Many species ants have a hard time walking upside down. For ants it is more effective to follow the trail over a bridge that goes down and then up than in an inverted upside down walk. http://earthsky.org/earth/how-do-ants-walk-upside-down …
As @djinnius points out, if these ants can't significant loads when they try to walk upside, it is possible that the suspended bridge solution is more effective because of that toohttps://twitter.com/djinnius/status/1026202781521195009 …
Hypothesis on how this bridge started to take form, a mini thread:https://twitter.com/godie1998/status/1026433258878377986 …
Bridge formation could also more be more effective for looting and carrying loads if it provides separate lanes that allow for more efficient traveling in either direction, eliminating congestion.
Studies show that ants partly optimise traffic flow. Ants headed back to the colony loaded up with loot use center lanes, while outbands ants use the edges. Ants are also sensitive to gaps and when other ants trample over their heads, so they start to follow other rules.
If you want to learn more about how army ants follow simple rules to build bridges and how they solve the trade-offs associated with it, @sjmgarnier explains it here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-simple-algorithm-that-ants-use-to-build-bridges-20180226/ …pic.twitter.com/8wkNsnRKsz
If you want to know more about the collective behavior of army ants making these impressive largely decentralized self-organized systems, check out this video with Simon Garnier (@sjmgarnier) from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (@NJIT)pic.twitter.com/3dukAIvcLf
What is the point of the bridge though?
But why? There is a proof in the video that they can just as easily walk upside down on the ceiling. It’s all impressive, just confusing.
Ah, I understand now. At first I was thinking that this is merely a failure mode that happened when they decided to follow a build the bridge (premature optimization gone wrong). Or that there was something in the ceiling affecting the trail pheromones.
But then a biologist pointed out something more fundamental. Most ants can't walk upside down. For ants it is easier to follow the trail over a bridge that goes down and then up than inverted upside down walk http://earthsky.org/earth/how-do-ants-walk-upside-down …
That is so interesting! Thanks for finding out! :3 kudos
He had to repeat himself for u though. Smh
Why did they feel the need to form the bridge? How did they know the nest was there if they didn't already have a path to it?
^This. I thought ants could only communicate by pheromones and the occasional clicks. How could they smell the pheromones that indicates there's a nest if no ants could get there?
At first I was thinking that this was merely a failure mode that happened when they decided to follow & build the bridge (premature optimization gone wrong). Or that there was something in the ceiling affecting the trail pheromones.
But then a biologist pointed out something more fundamental. Many ants have a hard time walk upside down. For ants it is more effective to follow the trail over a bridge that goes down and then up than in an inverted upside down walk. http://earthsky.org/earth/how-do-ants-walk-upside-down …
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