Learning and colony emigration in Temnothorax albipennis ants

It is widely accepted that particular individuals in a social insect community (such as an ant nest) specialize on certain tasks more than others (division of labor). However, there is not empirical evidence showing how (or if) an individual’s likeliness to perform a task is linked to its efficiency at performing it. This experiment tested the preference and efficiency of Temnothorax albipennis ants at performing the task of moving their colony from a destroyed nest to a new one and if learning occurs after being forced to repeat the task several times. It was found that the ants most likely to perform the emigration task were not necessarily the best at it. The differences among individuals are present before workers collect experience with this task. These differences in task preference do not increase with experience, but may decrease. Learning, in this species, in the task of transporting nestmates, may thus allow compensation for initial differences, instead of increasing them. This is contrary to the classic understanding of the role of learning in division of labor.