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First published online August 23, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 3431-3439 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01159

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Navigation in wood ants Formica japonica: context dependent use of landmarks

Tsukasa Fukushi^1,* and Rüdiger Wehner²

¹ Department of Biology, Miyagi University of Education, Aramaki-aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-0845, Japan
² Department of Zoology, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland

View larger version (16K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Inbound paths of displaced full-vector ants, i.e. ants that have been displaced from the feeder (F17.1, crossed open circle) to various release sites (R1.9, R5.7, R9.5, R13.3 and R20.9). N (filled circle), nest. (A-F) Paths of the displaced ants that upon release had started their inbound runs from the release sites mentioned above. N=16 ants tested in each experiment except for (E), N=12.

View larger version (19K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Inbound paths of displaced zero-vector ants, i.e. ants that were captured shortly before they entered the nest and were displaced to the very same release sites (R1.9 to R20.9) as the full-vector ants, whose inward trajectories are shown in Fig. 1. For further conventions see Fig. 1. N=12 in each experiment.

View larger version (25K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Outbound paths of displaced full-vector ants, i.e. ants that had emerged from the nest and were displaced to various release sites (diamonds: ER4.0, SR3.8-SR15.2). The two solid lines in B represent the linear regressions computed for the ants' position x<10 m (labelled `First') and 10 m < x < 16 m (labelled `Second'). B1, B2, C1-C5, landmarks (boxes and columns) in front of the building in the north of the terrace. N=12 in each experiment except for N=13 in C.

View larger version (25K): [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Outbound paths of displaced zero-vector ants, i.e. ants that had arrived at the feeder (F17.1) and were displaced from there to the very same release sites as the full-vector ants, whose outbound trajectories are shown in Fig. 4. For further conventions see Figs 1, 4. N=13 in each experiment.

View larger version (17K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Floor plan of the terrace platform and its surroundings. The mean inbound courses of the full-vector ants (Fig. 1) and the zero-vector ants (Fig. 3) are shown by solid and broken lines, respectively. The symbols marked R1.9 to R20.9 depict the sites at which the full-vector ants and the zero-vector ants were released and started their inbound (homeward) runs. In addition, the locations of 13 large horse chestnut trees (Aesculus turbinata) are indicated. The lower trees and bushes are omitted (see Fukushi, 2001, Fig. 3). N (filled circle), nest. Bold line, normal homeward course.

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