A variable refractory period increases collective performance in noisy environments

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Ecology
• Systems Biology
• Biophysics

Background:

• Synchronized oscillations are ubiquitous in biological systems, from cellular processes to ecosystems.
• A common mechanism for oscillation involves delayed responses between interacting entities, requiring communication but susceptible to noise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the principles of synchronization in the social spider *Anelosimus eximius* during group hunting.
• To investigate the role of individual behavioral rules and environmental factors in emergent oscillations.

Main Methods:

• Developed a mechanistic model based on individual behavioral rules derived from field experiments.
• Simulated spider group hunting dynamics to analyze synchronization patterns.

Main Results:

• Emergence of oscillations in spiders is linked to a refractory state whose duration varies with prey and conspecific signal intensity.
• This adaptive refractory period allows rapid adjustment to changing vibrational landscapes.
• Synchronization benefits, including improved prey detection and reduced capture latency, outweigh immobility costs.

Conclusions:

• Variable refractory periods, influenced by shared environmental information, facilitate self-organized oscillations in noisy conditions.
• Findings offer insights into designing artificial systems requiring robust synchronization.