Open AccessA variable refractory period increases collective performance in noisy environments
Author(s) -
Violette Chiara,
Patrick Arrufat,
Raphaël Jeanson
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2115103119
Subject(s) - synchronizing , synchronization (alternating current) , predation , variable (mathematics) , computer science , biology , duration (music) , ecology , mathematics , telecommunications , physics , channel (broadcasting) , acoustics , mathematical analysis , transmission (telecommunications)
Significance In biological and artificial systems, synchronization is an important means of achieving coordination. During hunting, social spiders alternate their moving and stopping phases in unison as they move toward their prey. We combined fieldwork and modeling to investigate the behavioral rules that lead to the emergence of synchronized oscillations in hunting groups. We showed that an individual's decision to move depends on the relative intensity of vibrations emitted by the prey and the moving spiders. This rule allows the group to adapt quickly to any change in prey size or the number of spiders involved in the hunt. Such synchronization ensures that the spiders can locate their prey without being disturbed by signals from conspecifics and thus improves hunting performance.