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Fig. 2. Novel route of wood ants (Formica rufa) to a food site. (A) Food
was placed at the base of a gradient landmark. (B) The mean path along the
habitual route and the mean path from a displaced start point are shown as a
grey ribbon whose width represents the 95% confidence interval of the mean
path. N is the number of ants trained and tested, and n is
the number of recorded trajectories (T.S.C., P.G. and R.A.H., unpublished
data). Line superimposed on the grey ribbon shows the path predicted by the
`look-up' model described in the text and in more detail in Harris et al.
(Harris et al., 2007). The
paths of the displaced ants and the model do not quite reach the goal. This
error is probably caused by the foreshortening of the wall, when seen from an
acute angle. Discrepancies between data and model are partly because the ant
may switch to a second strategy when it is close to the landmark and becomes
unable to assess the overall width of the gradient and partly because of
inaccuracies in the model's simulation of the gradient width perceived by the
ant.
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