Phys. Rev. E 79, 066106 (2009) [8 pages]Percolation in insect nest networks: Evidence for optimal wiringReceived 22 July 2008; revised 7 March 2009; published 12 June 2009 Optimization has been shown to be a driving force for the evolution of some biological structures, such as neural maps in the brain or transport networks. Here we show that insect networks also display characteristic traits of optimality. By using a graph representation of the chamber organization of termite nests and a disordered lattice model, it is found that these spatial nests are close to a percolation threshold. This suggests that termites build efficient systems of galleries spanning most of the nest volume at low cost. The evolutionary consequences are outlined. © 2009 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.79.066106
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevE.79.066106
PACS:
89.75.Fb, 89.75.Hc, 87.18.−h
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