Ordering and topological defects in social wasps’ nests

Krishna, Shivani; Gopinath, Apoorva; Bhattacharjee, Somendra M.

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16836-6

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While there have been extensive studies focused on the geometry of the hexagonal regular unit cell ( 12 – 15 ), the mechanisms controlling the density and distribution of defects in the lattice are still not well understood. Only in the last decade have there been studies characterizing irregular patterns quantitatively ( 9 , 11 , 16 , 17 ), and the rules governing the planning and construction of honeycomb under external constraints incompatible with a regular lattice remain an open question ( 18 , 19 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Crystallography of honeycomb formation under geometric frustration

Fard

Zhang

Jiménez

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As honeybees build their nests in preexisting tree cavities, they must deal with the presence of geometric constraints, resulting in nonregular hexagons and topological defects in the comb. In this work, we study how bees adapt to their environment in order to regulate the comb structure. Specifically, we identify the irregularities in honeycomb structure in the presence of various geometric frustrations. We 3D-print experimental frames with a variety of constraints imposed on the imprinted foundations. The combs constructed by the bees show clear evidence of recurring patterns in response to specific geometric frustrations on these starter frames. Furthermore, using an experimental-modeling framework, we demonstrate that these patterns can be successfully modeled and replicated through a simulated annealing process, in which the minimized potential is a variation of the Lennard-Jones potential that considers only first-neighbor interactions according to a Delaunay triangulation. Our simulation results not only confirm the connection between honeycomb structures and other crystal systems such as graphene, but also show that irregularities in the honeycomb structure can be explained as the result of analogous interactions between cells and their immediate surroundings, leading to emergent global order. Additionally, our computational model can be used as a first step to describe specific strategies that bees use to effectively solve geometric mismatches while minimizing cost of comb building.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Crystallography of honeycomb formation under geometric frustration

Fard

Zhang

Jiménez

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Honeycomb constructs in nature are mostly made of cellulose-, chitin- or wax- containing biopolymers ( Figure 1 ) (see also [ 6 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]). However, such scaffolds made of biosilica, with the exception of selected structures observed indiatom shells on the nano-level, are poorly investigated [ 22 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a current trend for the reproduction of evolutionary architecture, and exploring the possibilities of its applications in various fields of science and technology [1]. One of the classical objects produced in nature and used in bioinspired engineering [2,3] is honeycomb, built by bees (Figure 1a,b) or wasps (Figure 1c,d) [4][5][6]. Structural and mechanical properties of artificial honeycomb, such as elasticity, compressive behavior, etc., of both hexagonal (honeycomb-like) and triangular 3D structures, including hierarchical ones, are well-known and widely investigated [5,[7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Honeycomb Biosilica in Sponges: From Understanding Principles of Unique Hierarchical Organization to Assessing Biomimetic Potential

Voronkina,

Romanczuk-Ruszuk,

Przekop

et al. 2023

Biomimetics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Structural bioinspiration in modern material science and biomimetics represents an actual trend that was originally based on the bioarchitectural diversity of invertebrate skeletons, specifically, honeycomb constructs of natural origin, which have been in humanities focus since ancient times. We conducted a study on the principles of bioarchitecture regarding the unique biosilica-based honeycomb-like skeleton of the deep-sea glass sponge Aphrocallistes beatrix. Experimental data show, with compelling evidence, the location of actin filaments within honeycomb-formed hierarchical siliceous walls. Principles of the unique hierarchical organization of such formations are discussed. Inspired by poriferan honeycomb biosilica, we designed diverse models, including 3D printing, using PLA-, resin-, and synthetic-glass-prepared corresponding microtomography-based 3D reconstruction.

show abstract

“…We would also expect them to have evolved near-optimal behaviors when presented with the challenge of transitioning between cell sizes. While non-hexagonal cells exist in the hexagonal arrays of both honey bees and social wasps [7,[14][15][16][17], these irregular shapes are usually ignored in previous research because measuring them is notoriously tedious. However, it is exactly in those situations, where construction of cells requires a non-trivial trade-off between material and functionality, that we may assess their skills as builders.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Honey bees and social wasps reach convergent architectural solutions to nest-building problems

Smith¹,

Loope²,

Chuttong³

et al. 2023

PLoS Biol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The hexagonal cells built by honey bees and social wasps are an example of adaptive architecture; hexagons minimize material use, while maximizing storage space and structural stability. Hexagon building evolved independently in the bees and wasps, but in some species of both groups, the hexagonal cells are size dimorphic—small worker cells and large reproductive cells—which forces the builders to join differently sized hexagons together. This inherent tiling problem creates a unique opportunity to investigate how similar architectural challenges are solved across independent evolutionary origins. We investigated how 5 honey bee and 5 wasp species solved this problem by extracting per-cell metrics from 22,745 cells. Here, we show that all species used the same building techniques: intermediate-sized cells and pairs of non-hexagonal cells, which increase in frequency with increasing size dimorphism. We then derive a simple geometric model that explains and predicts the observed pairing of non-hexagonal cells and their rate of occurrence. Our results show that despite different building materials, comb configurations, and 179 million years of independent evolution, honey bees and social wasps have converged on the same solutions for the same architectural problems, thereby revealing fundamental building properties and evolutionary convergence in construction behavior.

show abstract

Ordering and topological defects in social wasps’ nests

Cited by 4 publications

References 46 publications

Crystallography of honeycomb formation under geometric frustration

Crystallography of honeycomb formation under geometric frustration

Honeycomb Biosilica in Sponges: From Understanding Principles of Unique Hierarchical Organization to Assessing Biomimetic Potential

Honey bees and social wasps reach convergent architectural solutions to nest-building problems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About