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

First published online October 21, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 4005-4011 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01873

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 Related articles in JEB 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 Grah, G. Articles by Ronacher, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Grah, G. Articles by Ronacher, B. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Path integration in a three-dimensional maze: ground distance estimation keeps desert ants Cataglyphis fortis on course

Gunnar Grah¹, Rüdiger Wehner² and Bernhard Ronacher^1,*

¹ Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstrasse 43, D 10099 Berlin, Germany
² Department of Zoology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH 8057 Zürich, Switzerland

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: Bernhard.Ronacher{at}Rz.Hu-Berlin.De)

Accepted 5 September 2005

In this study, we investigate the ability of desert ants to gauge the ground distances of sloped sections in a three-dimensional (3D) outbound path. Ground distance estimation, as opposed to a simple measurement of walking distances, is a necessary prerequisite for precise path integration in undulating terrain. We trained ants to visit a feeder along a path that included an angular turn as well as a `hill', resulting in an outbound path with a distinct 3D structure. We then observed the ants' return path in a test field on level ground. From the angles of the ants' return path on the test field one can infer which property of the hill segment was fed into the ants' path integration module, the actual walking distance or the ground distance. The results show clearly that it is the ground distance that Cataglyphis fortis feeds into its path integrator, and suggest that the ants are able to keep an accurate home vector also in hilly terrain.

Key words: three-dimensional path integration, distance estimation, odometer, ant, Cataglyphis fortis

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

Related articles in JEB:

FORAGING ANTS AREN'T CONFUSED BY A CLIMB

Yfke van Bergen
JEB 2005 208: ii. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. L. Walls and J. E. Layne Fiddler crabs accurately measure two-dimensional distance over three-dimensional terrain J. Exp. Biol., October 15, 2009; 212(20): 3236 - 3240. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Hess, J. Koch, and B. Ronacher Desert ants do not rely on sky compass information for the perception of inclined path segments J. Exp. Biol., May 15, 2009; 212(10): 1528 - 1534. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Dacke and M. V. Srinivasan Honeybee navigation: distance estimation in the third dimension J. Exp. Biol., March 1, 2007; 210(5): 845 - 853. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Wittlinger, H. Wolf, and R. Wehner Hair plate mechanoreceptors associated with body segments are not necessary for three-dimensional path integration in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis J. Exp. Biol., February 1, 2007; 210(3): 375 - 382. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Ronacher, E. Westwig, and R. Wehner Integrating two-dimensional paths: do desert ants process distance information in the absence of celestial compass cues? J. Exp. Biol., September 1, 2006; 209(17): 3301 - 3308. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. van Bergen FORAGING ANTS AREN'T CONFUSED BY A CLIMB J. Exp. Biol., November 1, 2005; 208(21): ii - ii. [Full Text] [PDF]