|
| |
|
|
|
|
||||
| Home Help Feedback Subscriptions Archive Search Table of Contents | ||||
Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 204, Issue 9 1635-1639, Copyright © 2001 by Company of Biologists
JOURNAL ARTICLES |
TS Collett, M Collett and R Wehner
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK. t.s.collett@sussex.ac.uk
Desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis) were trained to follow a fixed route around a barrier to a feeder. Their homeward trajectories were recorded on a test field containing a similar barrier, oriented either as in training or rotated through 22 or 45 . Under one set of experimental conditions, the homeward trajectories rotated with the orientation of the barrier, implying that the visual features of this extended landmark can determine the route independently of compass cues: the barrier provided a "visual scene" that controlled the trajectories of the ants. Under other conditions, the trajectories after rotation were a compromise between the habitual compass direction and the direction with respect to the rotated barrier. Trajectories were determined primarily by the visual scene when ants were allowed to return close to the nest before being caught and tested. The compromise trajectories were observed when ants were taken from the feeder. It seems that ants exhibit at least two separate learnt responses to the barrier: (i) a habitual compass direction triggered by the sight of the barrier and (ii) a visual scene direction that is compass-independent. We suggest that the weighting accorded to these different learnt responses changes with the state of the path integration system.
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati 
Twitter What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  M. Collett and T. S. Collett The learning and maintenance of local vectors in desert ant navigation J. Exp. Biol., April 1, 2009; 212(7): 895 - 900. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
W. F. Towne and H. Moscrip The connection between landscapes and the solar ephemeris in honeybees J. Exp. Biol., December 1, 2008; 211(23): 3729 - 3736. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Narendra Homing strategies of the Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti II. Interaction of the path integrator with visual cue information J. Exp. Biol., May 15, 2007; 210(10): 1804 - 1812. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Graham and T. S. Collett Bi-directional route learning in wood ants J. Exp. Biol., September 15, 2006; 209(18): 3677 - 3684. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Cheng, A. Narendra, and R. Wehner Behavioral ecology of odometric memories in desert ants: acquisition, retention, and integration Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2006; 17(2): 227 - 235. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Dussutour, J.-L. Deneubourg, and V. Fourcassie Amplification of individual preferences in a social context: the case of wall-following in ants Proc R Soc B, April 7, 2005; 272(1564): 705 - 714. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. A. Hoeffer, S. Sanyal, and M. Ramaswami Acute Induction of Conserved Synaptic Signaling Pathways in Drosophila Melanogaster J. Neurosci., July 16, 2003; 23(15): 6362 - 6372. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Graham, K. Fauria, and T. S. Collett The influence of beacon-aiming on the routes of wood ants J. Exp. Biol., February 1, 2003; 206(3): 535 - 541. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Graham and T. S. Collett View-based navigation in insects: how wood ants (Formica rufa L.) look at and are guided by extended landmarks J. Exp. Biol., August 15, 2002; 205(16): 2499 - 2509. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Bisch-Knaden and R. Wehner Egocentric information helps desert ants to navigate around familiar obstacles J. Exp. Biol., March 14, 2002; 204(24): 4177 - 4184. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
