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Termite colonies construct towering, complex mounds, in a classic example ofdistributed agents coordinating their activity via interaction with a sharedenvironment. The traditional explanation for how this coordination occursfocuses on the idea of a "cement pheromone", a chemical signal left withdeposited soil that triggers further deposition. Recent research has calledthis idea into question, pointing to a more complicated behavioral response tocues perceived with multiple senses. In this work, we explored the role oftopological cues in affecting early construction activity in Macrotermes. Wecreated artificial surfaces with a known range of curvatures, coated them withnest soil, placed groups of major workers on them, and evaluated soildisplacement as a function of location at the end of one hour. Each point onthe surface has a given curvature, inclination, and absolute height; todisambiguate these factors, we conducted experiments with the surface indifferent orientations. Soil displacement activity is consistently correlatedwith surface curvature, and not with inclination nor height. Early explorationactivity is also correlated with curvature, to a lesser degree. Topographicalcues provide a long-term physical memory of building activity in a manner thatephemeral pheromone labeling cannot. Elucidating the roles of these and othercues for group coordination may help provide organizing principles for swarmrobotics and other artificial systems.

Surface curvature guides early construction activity in mound-building termites