The Common Stomach as a Center of Information Sharing for Nest Construction

Construction of wasp nests is a self organized process that requires building materials, pulp and water foragers, and builders to cooperate. In this paper we study how the society of agents use a social crop, or common stomach, to store water that also provides a mechanism for worker connectivity, which in turn regulates building. Our model predicts that via the common stomach usage, medium sized colonies enjoy the benefit of having highly effective foragers and this in turn means that the colonies need only endanger a few foragers to ensure steady construction. When pulp foraging becomes more costly than water foraging, the colonies adjust via recruiting more pulp foragers and less water foragers, but keep high numbers of common stomach wasps on the nest. The common stomach provides an adaptable platform for indirect worker connectivity and a buffer for water storage.