Table 1. Comparison of experimental data and model results for average age of onset of foraging (AAOF) and lifespan.

Colony	Flightspan (days)	Deathrate, m (days−1)	AAOF		Lifespan
			Observed	Model	Observed	Model
1 (Large)	7.5	0.133	18.6	19.4	22.8	26.9
2 (Large)	6.5	0.154	18.4	17.7	22.3	24.2
3 (Small)	6.7	0.149	23.8	17.6	26.6	24.3
4 (Small)	8.8	0.114	22.2	20.4	26.4	29.2

Experimental data is from Rueppell et al [33] and model results were obtained by running the model for 40 days (approximately the observational period used by Rueppell et al). At the start of each model run H = 9000 for large colonies and 4500 for small colonies and F = 0. The parameters were L = 2000, w = 27000,  = 0.25 and  = 0.75.