QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Graham, P. Articles by Collett, T. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Graham, P. Articles by Collett, T. S. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 535-541 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00115

The influence of beacon-aiming on the routes of wood ants

Paul Graham^*, Karine Fauria and Thomas S. Collett

School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, BN1 9QG

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: paulgr{at}cogs.susx.ac.uk)

Accepted 29 October 2002

Many insects have an innate propensity to approach conspicuous objects. We explore how such beacon aiming determines the shape of a wood ant's habitual route. We find that a single large black cylinder within an arena biases the route taken by ants as they run from a start position at one end of the arena to reach a feeder at the other. Ants learn a stable route with the first segment of their trajectory aimed at the cylinder, which becomes an intermediate goal on the way to the feeder. When in occasional tests the cylinder is removed or displaced, ants head for the usual site of the cylinder. They also aim for the same site when the cylinder is removed and the ant's normal start position is changed. This behaviour suggests that visual features of the arena are learnt from the vantage point of the cylinder and that this stored snapshot guides the ant to that site. Ants thus reinforce their ability to reach the cylinder by learning other visual features in their surroundings that can also steer them to its location. The use of beacon aiming in fixing routes has several benefits. Because the same path will be traversed on every trial, beacon aiming facilitates the acquisition of routes. Beacon aiming also increases the robustness of learnt routes: ants straying from the route will be attracted to the closest beacon and so regain their habitual paths.

Key words: wood ant, Formica rufa, beacon aiming, landmark, navigation, route learning, visual cue

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Bregy, S. Sommer, and R. Wehner Nest-mark orientation versus vector navigation in desert ants J. Exp. Biol., June 15, 2008; 211(12): 1868 - 1873. [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]

				T. Fukushi and R. Wehner Navigation in wood ants Formica japonica: context dependent use of landmarks J. Exp. Biol., September 1, 2004; 207(19): 3431 - 3439. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Durier, P. Graham, and T. S. Collett Switching destinations: memory change in wood ants J. Exp. Biol., June 15, 2004; 207(14): 2401 - 2408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]