Dwell Time Outperforms Social and Chemical Predictors of Behavioural Transitions in Ants

Agent-based models of collective behaviour can reproduce the macroscopic patterns observed in biological systems, yet reproducing observed behaviour does not guarantee the model captures the true underlying mechanisms. In ant colonies, for example, clustering may arise from local imitation, chemical marking of the environment, or internal physiological states. Distinguishing between these requires predictive tests at the individual level. Here, we apply regularised hazard models to trajectory data from three colonies and systematically compare candidate mechanisms. We find that neighbour-based cues alone are weak predictors of when an ant will transition between moving and resting states. A reconstructed arrestant pheromone field is similarly weak as a predictor, and combining pheromone with neighbour cues yields inconsistent results across colonies. In contrast, a simple measure of internal state, i.e., how long an ant has occupied its current state, emerges as the dominant predictor. These results suggest that the timing of behavioural transitions is primarily governed by internal dynamics, while environmental and social cues act as modulators that shape where transitions occur rather than when.