This work proposes an algorithm for rule discovery called Ant-Miner (Ant Colony-based Data Miner). The goal of Ant-Miner is to extract classification rules from data. The algorithm is based on recent research on the behavior of real ant colonies as well as in some data mining concepts. We compare the performance of Ant-Miner with the performance of the well-known C4.5 algorithm on six public do...

many real world problems can be modelled as an optimization problem. evolutionary algorithms are used to solve these problems. ant colony algorithm is a class of evolutionary algorithms that have been inspired of some specific ants looking for food in the nature. these ants leave trail pheromone on the ground to mark good ways that can be followed by other members of the group. ant colony optim...

The invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), has become a worldwide problem capable of inflicting significant ecological and economic injury on urban, agricultural, and natural environments. The mobility of this pest ant has long been noted, rapidly moving nests to new food resources and then away as resources are depleted. This ant, like many pest ant species, has a special affinity ...

1 We explored geographical variation in the interaction between the elaiosome-bearing seeds of Helleborus foetidus and ant dispersers. We looked for correlation across nine Iberian localities, between diaspore traits and structural and functional characteristics of ant communities. 2 Mean diaspore traits did not show a distance-dependent pattern. Seed size-related traits (length, width, diaspor...

Extrafloral nectaries can occur in both vegetative and reproductive plant structures. In many Rubiaceae species in the Brazilian Cerrado, after corolla abscission, the floral nectary continues to secret nectar throughout fruit development originating post-floral pericarpial nectaries which commonly attract many ant species. The occurrence of such nectar secreting structures might be strategic f...

Ant colony optimization is a metaheuristic approach belonging to the model based search algorithm. It is a paradigm for designing metaheuristic algorithm for combinatorial problem. In this paper we discuss the Ant colony system. Ant colony system is one of the best algorithm of ant colony optimization. First we discuss the optimization,and one of the optimization problem is combinatiorial probl...

The optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problem is formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem involving nonlinear objective function with multiple local minima. In this paper, as a new approach, different ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms are applied to the reactive power dispatch problem. Ant system (AS), the firstly introduced ant colony optimization algorithm, and its direc...

The nonstinging house ant, Monomorium pharaonis (pharaoh ant), was recently identified as a cause of respiratory allergy. This study was performed to evaluate the extent of sensitization to pharaoh ant, and its clinical significance in asthmatic patients. We carried out skin prick tests in 318 patients with asthma. Specific IgE (sIgE) to pharaoh ant was measured by ELISA, and cross-reactivity w...

Tropical birds forage at army ant raids on several continents. Obligate foraging at army ant raids evolved several times in the Neotropical true antbird family (Thamnophilidae), and recent evidence suggests a diversity of bird species from other families specialize to varying degrees on army ant exploitation. Army ant raids offer access to high prey densities, but the ant colonies are mobile an...

Chimpanzees are renowned for their use of foraging tools in harvesting social insects and some populations use tools to prey on aggressive army ants (Dorylus spp.). Tool use in army ant predation varies across chimpanzee study sites with differences in tool length, harvesting technique, and army ant species targeted. However, surprisingly little is known about the detailed ecology of army ant p...