This is the fifth part of my series of concise, activity-based explanations of the Viable System Model. These are designed not only to support learners but also to provide ideas for VSM coaches and consultants (especially, when it is about explaining it to clients).

Disclaimer #1: As I am not an ant expert, I tried my best to build upon reliable sources. If you know by chance a person that is knowledgeable I would be happy to find out if this mapping is feasible.

Disclaimer #2: Since ants belong to the kind of state building insects it is partially a biological system and partially a social system. However, one have to keep in mind that the “management” is mostly genetically driven. But “free will” is anyhow a topic of its own.

Part 5: An ant colony through the lens of the Viable System Model

This is a mapping of typical activities for an ant colony.

System 1 (Operational Units – Basically, the workers class)

These are the frontline activities directly interacting with the environment and producing value for the colony. In an ant colony, these correspond to the “worker” level tasks:

1. Foraging for food sources outside the nest.
2. Gathering seeds, insects, and other edible materials.
3. Nursing and feeding the larvae within brood chambers.
4. Tending and grooming the queen to maintain her health and productivity.
5. Cleaning and expanding nest chambers to maintain structural integrity.
6. Managing waste by removing debris and maintaining nest hygiene.
7. Guarding nest entrances and defending against intruders.

System 2 (Self-Coordination)

In an ant colony, this involves low-level regulatory mechanisms and short-term coordination cues.

1. Pheromone-based coordination of foraging trails to avoid confusion and chaos.
2. Traffic regulation within nest tunnels to reduce congestion and collisions.
3. Local conflict resolution via brief antennal contacts or minimal aggression signals among workers.
4. Modulating pheromone intensity to stabilize foraging activity levels.
5. Communicating nest repair or brood care needs through chemical markers.
6. Adjusting division of labor among workers through short-range signals.
7. Stabilizing brood tending routines by responding to subtle chemical cues from larvae.

System 3 (Operational Management)

System 3 monitors the internal operations, ensuring that S1 units have the right resources and are aligned with the colony’s immediate goals. It “manages” the here-and-now resource distribution and coherence

1. Regulating the proportion of workers allocated to foraging vs. brood care.
2. Monitoring the colony’s nutritional status and adjusting foraging intensity accordingly.
3. Balancing workforce distribution across tasks (e.g., nest maintenance vs. guarding).
4. Adjusting task assignments in response to internal colony indicators (e.g., signals from starving larvae).
5. Controlling internal nest environment conditions (temperature, humidity) through worker grouping and fanning.
6. Managing waste disposal protocols to maintain hygiene and limit disease spread.
7. Ensuring adequate defensive posture of the colony, such as increasing guard numbers when disturbances are detected.

System 3* (Audit and Monitoring)

In an ant colony, this can be viewed as periodic “inspections” or quality control checks, often carried out through immediate chemical and behavioral feedback loops.

1. Spot-checking brood chambers to ensure larvae receive proper feeding and grooming according to colony standards.
2. Inspecting food storage sites within the nest to confirm adequate quantity and quality of stored resources.
3. Verifying pheromone trails are laid and maintained correctly, ensuring foragers follow established routes rather than straying.
4. Checking the nest’s structural integrity, comparing expected tunnel and chamber stability to actual conditions.
5. Monitoring guard stations to ensure that soldier ants are present and responsive to potential threats.
6. Conducting internal sweeps for parasites or pathogens, confirming that hygiene measures enforced by System 3 are followed.
7. Assessing recent adjustments in division of labor (e.g., a shift in workforce distribution) to confirm that changes mandated by System 3 are actually being implemented at the operational level.

System 4 (Development and Strategy)

In an ant colony, this includes primarily the scouting activities.

1. Scouting for new food sources or more abundant feeding grounds.
2. Exploring potential new nest sites for relocation.
3. Assessing seasonal changes in resource availability.
4. Monitoring the presence of competitors and predators in the vicinity.
5. Testing alternate foraging routes or shortcuts to distant resources.
6. Shifting colony-level strategies in response to changes in the environment (e.g., switching from seeds to insect prey).
7. Adapting long-term colony behavior to climatic changes and habitat shifts.

System 5 (Identity and Policy)

For an ant colony, this is encoded largely genetically and through the queen’s role.

1. Establishing the genetic blueprint that determines caste structure.
2. Defining colony identity through characteristic colony-specific pheromone blends.
3. Maintaining the reproductive program: the queen’s egg-laying sets long-term growth policy.
4. Codifying species-specific foraging and nest-building behaviors through evolutionary inheritance.
5. Enabling the founding of new colonies (e.g., nuptial flights and dispersal strategies).
6. Establishing developmental phases of the colony (e.g., growth vs. reproduction emphasis).
7. Maintaining the colony’s “cultural” ethos, including typical alarm responses and cooperation levels.

Algedonic Channel (Signals of Pain and Pleasure)

Provides critical feedback that triggers a response from the metasystem (System 2–5).

1. Discovery of an abundant food source (pleasure) → System 4 prioritizes foraging; System 2 coordinates worker flow.
2. Collapse of a major tunnel (pain) → System 3 allocates repair teams; System 3* audits tunnel designs.
3. Larvae growth success (pleasure) → System 5 reinforces reproductive efforts.
4. Predator attack near the nest (pain) → System 2 redirects soldiers; System 4 reevaluates defense strategies.
5. Environmental disaster, such as flooding (pain) → System 4 prepares relocation plans; System 3 mobilizes evacuation efforts.
6. Successful relocation to a new nest (pleasure) → System 5 affirms colony unity and survival.
7. A decrease in worker productivity (pain) → System 3 audits task allocation; System 4 researches causes and solutions.

I hope this example gives you a feeling of what the systems of the VSM are doing and how thew are related to each other via an inclusive logic.

Check out VSMGPT to learn more about the Viable System Model

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