Group phenotypic composition drives task performances in ants

Differences in individual behaviour within a group can give rise to functional dissimilarities between groups, particularly in social animals. However, how individual behavioural phenotypes translate into the group phenotype remains unclear. Here we investigate whether individual behavioural type affects group performance in an eusocial species, the ant Aphaenogaster senilis. We measured individual behavioural traits and created groups of workers with similar behavioural type, either high-exploratory or low-exploratory. We tested these groups in four different, ecologically relevant tasks: reaction to an intruder, prey retrieval from a maze, nest relocation and tool use. We show that, compared to groups of low-exploratory workers, groups of high-exploratory workers were more aggressive towards intruders, more efficient in collecting prey, faster in nest relocation and more likely to perform tool use. Our results demonstrate a strong link between individual and collective behaviour in an..., , , # Group phenotypic composition drives task performances in ants

The data were collected at the Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, University Sorbonne Paris Nord, using 8 different colonies of the ant species *Aphaenogaster senilis* for the repeatability tests and 6 different colonies for the group tests.
The methodology used for data collection is described in the Manuscript entitled “***Group phenotypic composition drives task performances in ants***” submitted to Biology Letters.
 
**1. *Repeatability (Boldness)* data sheet:**
Contains the variable (**Ex_lat**) collected during the Boldness test to assess the repeatability of behavioural traits. This variable was collected with a chronometer and written down in a spreadsheet (.xls).
 
Variables included:
·      **Ex_lat:** latency to exit the tube (sec)
·      **ID:** worker IDs
·      **Nr_of_session:** which one of the two sessions of the *Boldness* *test*
 
**2. *Repeatability (Openfield)* data sheet:**
Contain...