Statistical analyses of ant and termite walking response signals

Eusocial insects have attracted significant research interest due to their unique physiology and ability to detect and respond to various signals, enabling efficient and often highly specialised communication within their colonies. Ants and termites have been locked into a predator-prey arms race for millions of years. Recent research reveals that termites can detect predatory ants by sensing their footsteps. It is, therefore, of great interest to determine the characteristics and differences of the vibrations induced by the walking of ants and termites. Here, we conduct a statistical analysis of six ants and ten termite species' video motion and footstep response vibrations. The motion analysis reveals that although termites are as heavy and active as ants, they move less erratically and quickly fall into a pattern following each other. The median speed relative to the body length shows a moderate negative correlation in ants, but a weak correlation in termites. By isolating single-step vibration response using nonlinear filtering and an enveloping function, the average amplitude and decay times are determined. Compared with termites, ants are found to excite more harmonics and exhibit more power in their vibrations which correlates with their average body weight, the average response amplitudes, and decay times but this is not observed for termites.