In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in Biology

In the

School of Biological Sciences

Paige Caine

Will defend her dissertation

rescue behavior in fire ants

17, July, 2026

1PM

Howey N210

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/274409970986137?p=7AFsGM7OflEad14LfB 

 Thesis Advisor:

Michael A.D. Goodisman, Ph.D.

School of Biological Sciences

Georgia Institute of Technology

Committee Members:

Daniel I Goldman, Ph.D.

School of Biological Sciences & School of Physics

Georgia Institute of Technology

William Ratcliff, Ph.D.

School of Biological Sciences

Georgia Institute of Technology

Takao Sasaki, Ph.D.

School of Arts & Sciences

University of Rochester

Brendan Hunt, Ph.D.

Department of Genetics & Department of Entomology

University of Georgia

ABSTRACT: 

Many organisms extend their individual capabilities through the power of cooperation, accomplishing tasks collectively that they could never achieve on their own. Social insects are powerful examples of this phenomenon, dominating ecosystems worldwide due in large part to their impressive aptitude for collective behavior. This dissertation explores social insect collective behavior in two contexts: nest construction and cooperative rescue behavior. First, I synthesize literature on nest architecture and building behaviors across social insect taxa, demonstrating the impressive diversity of social insect nests while highlighting common regulatory mechanisms that govern construction behaviors in multiple species. I then examine cooperative rescue behavior in the invasive fire ant Solenopsis invicta. I stage cooperative rescue assays and use population genetics approaches to demonstrate a genetic effect on division of labor in cooperative rescue. I further stage and analyze rescue assays with varying targets to both suggest a role for chemical signaling in locating rescue targets, and to reveal that both target caste and target mass contribute together to rescue priority. Finally, I investigate the role of collective cognition in rescue behavior. I vary both the number of targets and the number of rescuers, and find that larger rescuing groups demonstrate higher cognitive capacity, but that this cognitive capacity isn’t hindered by the addition of multiple tasks. Overall, these projects demonstrate the power of emergent collective behavior in social insects, supporting a lack of hierarchy in both the value of different kinds of potential targets, and in the regulation of collective behaviors.