Colonies of ants allocate exploratory individuals to where they are ecologically needed.

Individual differences in behavior have large consequences for the way in which ecology impacts fitness. Individuals differ in how they explore their environment and how exploratory behavior benefits them. In group-living animals, behavioral heterogeneity can be beneficial because different individuals perform different tasks. For example, exploratory individuals may discover new food sources and recruit group members to exploit the food, while less exploratory individuals forgo the risks of exploration. Here we ask how individual variation in exploratory behavior affects the ability of Argentine ant colonies to (1) locate novel food sources, (2) exploit known food resources, and (3) respond to disruptions while foraging. To address these questions, we conducted field experiments on foraging trails in which we manipulated food availability near and at the foraging trails and disrupted the foraging trails. We sampled individuals based on their response to the perturbations in the field and tested their exploratory behavior in the lab. We found that exploratory individuals benefit the colony by locating novel foods and increasing resource exploitation, but they do not play an important role in the recovery of a foraging trail after disruption. Thus, the benefits of behavioral heterogeneity to the group, specifically in exploratory behavior, differ across ecological contexts.