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

First published online November 4, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 4223-4230 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01905

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 Wolf, H. Articles by Wehner, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wolf, H. Articles by Wehner, R. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Desert ants compensate for navigation uncertainty

Harald Wolf^1,* and Rüdiger Wehner²

¹ Department of Neurobiology, University of Ulm, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
² Institute of Zoology, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: harald.wolf{at}uni-ulm.de)

Accepted 28 September 2005

During foraging trips, desert ants Cataglyphis fortis do not rely only on their well-studied path integration system, they also use olfactory cues when approaching a familiar food source. When a wind is blowing from a constant direction, as is characteristic of their desert habitat, the ants do not approach the feeder directly. They rather steer some distance downwind of the food source to pick up odour filaments emanating from the food. They follow this odour trail upwind, and find the source quickly and reliably.

This approach behaviour was examined in more detail in order to identify the underlying orientation strategy. First, the ants may employ a `goal expansion strategy', using odour spread as a spatially limited indicator for the presence of food. In that case, the distance steered downwind of the feeder should be determined by the range of the odour plume (and, for instance, wind speed). It should be independent of the distance between nest and feeder. Second, the ants may apply an `error compensation strategy', using odour filaments as a guideline towards the food source. Steering downwind by a margin just exceeding their maximum navigation error will lead the ants safely across the odour guide. In that case, the distance steered downwind of the feeder should increase more or less linearly with the nest-feeder distance.

Our results unambiguously support the second strategy. When feeders were established at distances of 5-75 m from the nest, the distances steered downwind of the food increased from 0.7 m to 3.4 m in a linear fashion. This result was independent of wind speed or wind direction. It translates into an ant's estimate of its navigation error within a range of 3° to 8°.

Key words: insect, Cataglyphis fortis, navigation, uncertainty, error compensation

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

This article has been cited by other articles:

				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]

				M. Wittlinger, R. Wehner, and H. Wolf The desert ant odometer: a stride integrator that accounts for stride length and walking speed J. Exp. Biol., January 15, 2007; 210(2): 198 - 207. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Merkle, M. Knaden, and R. Wehner Uncertainty about nest position influences systematic search strategies in desert ants J. Exp. Biol., September 15, 2006; 209(18): 3545 - 3549. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Vladusich, J. M. Hemmi, and J. Zeil Honeybee odometry and scent guidance J. Exp. Biol., April 15, 2006; 209(8): 1367 - 1375. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]