A temperature dependent mathematical model of the colony and budding characteristics of the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile

The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is a highly invasive insect affecting many areas of Mediterranean climate throughout the world. The Argentine ant has damaged biodiversity in invaded areas by disrupting seed dispersal and pollination, and endangering other animal species. This ant is also a household and agricultural nuisance, invading homes and living mutualistically with agricultural pests. Control of the Argentine ant has proven to be difficult because this species is polygynous. Being polygynous allows the Argentine ant to reproduce and spread rapidly. Entomologists are working diligently to understand this invasive species so that control efforts can be established. Much of the Argentine ant's behavior appears to correlate with temperature. Thus, we have constructed a temperature dependent system of ordinary differential equations that simulates worker and brood numbers within a single colony. The second model adds stochasticity to the temperature in order to look at the effects of temperature variance on the one year population levels produced by the model.