Meeting Abstract
Organismal survival is dictated by a basic need for food, water, and shelter. This is true from bacterial colonies to complex social animals, such as ants and humans. For the acorn ant, Temnothorax curvispinosus, a physical nest space is crucial to colony survival. However, it has previously been difficult, if not impossible to visualize and quantify the geometry and spatial organization associated with nest architecture in a non-destructive manner. Modern advancements in imaging technologies make it possible to not only see, but analyze the nest spaces of these ants using x-ray computed microtomography. Acorns were collected in Rhode Island without disturbance by manually observing ants coming and going through microscopic pores in the acorn. These acorns were imaged using the Bruker x-ray microtomography center at Union College, NY. Using Bruker CTAn software, virtual cross-sections of the acorn scans were segmented using regions of interest and binarized to remove artifacts. The resulting binary stacks were then used to generate 3D models and estimate the volume and surface area of the interior nest space with precision in the range of 5%. The three-dimensional models of the internal nest regions were visualized using Bruker CTVol software, revealing a strikingly highly partitioned internal nest geometry. Through computer analysis and modeling, we were able to better understand the physical world in which these acorn ants live, offering insight into their unique natural history and also raising questions about the role that physical and built environments play in shaping social interactions in complex societies.
