Ant Colony Stigmergy

Pheromone trails enable collective intelligence — shortest path emerges without central coordination

Colony

Ant count80

Pheromone

Evaporation rate0.003

Deposit strength8

Trail sensitivity α2.0

Random wander β0.3

Environment

Food sources3

Ants foraging—

Food collected0

Active trails0

Peak pheromone0

Stigmergy: indirect coordination through environmental modification. Ants deposit pheromone when carrying food; shorter paths accumulate more pheromone per unit time, reinforcing the shortest route. Evaporation prevents convergence on suboptimal paths.