Counting insects

Skorupski, Peter; MaBouDi, HaDi; Dona, Hiruni Samadi Galpayage; Chittka, Lars

doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0513

Cited by 45 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 83 publications

(126 reference statements)

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“…Thus, the role of the MBs in cecropia cocoon spinning may be an example of the role MBs play in the multiple-input generation or coordination of the motor program. This would be consistent with their proposed role in the measurement of silk length during cocoon construction [35].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

A re-evaluation of silk measurement by the cecropia caterpillar (Hyalophora cecropia) during cocoon construction reveals use of a silk odometer that is temporally regulated

et al. 2020

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The late 5 th instar caterpillar of the cecropia silk moth (Hyalophora cecropia) spins a silken cocoon with a distinct, multilayered architecture. The cocoon construction program, first described by the seminal work of Van der Kloot and Williams, consists of a highly ordered sequence of events. We perform behavioral experiments to re-evaluate the original cecropia work, which hypothesized that the length of silk that passes through the spinneret controls the orderly execution of each of the discrete events of cocoon spinning. We confirm and extend by three-dimensional scanning and quantitative measurements of silk weights that if cocoon construction is interrupted, upon re-spinning, the caterpillar continues the cocoon program from where it left off. We also confirm and extend by quantitative measurements of silk weights that cecropia caterpillars will not bypass any of the sections of the cocoon during the construction process, even if presented with a pre-spun section of a cocoon spun by another caterpillar. Blocking silk output inhibits caterpillars from performing normal spinning behaviors used for cocoon construction. Surprisingly, unblocking silk output 24-hr later did not restart the cocoon construction program, suggesting the involvement of a temporallydefined interval timer. We confirm with surgical reductions of the silk glands that it is the length of silk itself that matters, rather than the total amount of silk extracted by individuals. We used scanning electron microscopy to directly show that either mono-or dual-filament silk (i.e., equal silk lengths but which vary in their total amount of silk extracted) can be used to construct equivalent cocoons of normal size and that contain the relevant layers. We propose that our findings, taken together with the results of prior studies, strongly support the hypothesis that the caterpillar uses a silk "odometer" to measure the length of silk extracted during cocoon construction but does so in a temporally regulated manner. We further postulate that our examination of the anatomy of the silk spinning apparatus and ablating spinneret sensory output provides evidence that silk length measurement occurs upstream of output from the spinneret.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

A re-evaluation of silk measurement by the cecropia caterpillar (Hyalophora cecropia) during cocoon construction reveals use of a silk odometer that is temporally regulated

et al. 2020

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“…Honeybees are considered as a model species for studying numerical cognition in insects [33][34][35][36][37][38]. Previously, honeybees have demonstrated the capacity to evaluate quantities by counting the number of landmarks to reach a feeder [35,36], or matching the number of objects in pictures [38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbolic representation of numerosity by honeybees ( Apis mellifera ): matching characters to small quantities

et al. 2019

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The assignment of a symbolic representation to a specific numerosity is a fundamental requirement for humans solving complex mathematical calculations used in diverse applications such as algebra, accounting, physics and everyday commerce. Here we show that honeybees are able to learn to match a sign to a numerosity, or a numerosity to a sign, and subsequently transfer this knowledge to novel numerosity stimuli changed in colour properties, shape and configuration. While honeybees learned the associations between two quantities (two; three) and two signs (N-shape; inverted T-shape), they failed at reversing their specific task of sign-to-numerosity matching to numerosity-to-sign matching and vice versa (i.e. a honeybee that learned to match a sign to a number of elements was not able to invert this learning to match the numerosity of elements to a sign). Thus, while bees could learn the association between a symbol and numerosity, it was linked to the specific task and bees could not spontaneously extrapolate the association to a novel, reversed task. Our study therefore reveals that the basic requirement for numerical symbolic representation can be fulfilled by an insect brain, suggesting that the absence of its spontaneous emergence in animals is not due to cognitive limitation.

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“…Recent research on numerical cognition in invertebrates has raised growing interest among comparative psychologists. This interest is mainly due to the fact that invertebrates show numerical abilities similar to those of vertebrates (Skorupski, MaBouDi, Galpayage Dona, & Chittka, ). Bees and ants use proto‐counting abilities during navigation (Chittka & Geiger, ; Wittlinger, Wehner, & Wolf, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous quantity discrimination in crickets

Gatto

Carlesso

2019

Ethology

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Recent studies have reported that the ability to discriminate among quantities is not a prerogative of vertebrates. Ants, bees, and spiders can solve tasks in which they are required to discriminate between groups of objects. Although many studies regarding numerical cognition on invertebrates proposed a proto‐counting system, more control experiments for non‐numerical variables are necessary to confirm this hypothesis. Here, we developed a new method to investigate quantity discrimination abilities in invertebrates. We investigated the spontaneous choice of a cricket, Acheta domesticus. We exploited its natural shelter‐seeking behavior by presenting sets of geometrical shapes that simulated potential shelters. In a dichotomous choice between sets of geometrical black shapes differing in number of items, the majority of crickets chose the set containing the larger numerosity up to 2 versus 3 items. Control experiments suggested that crickets discriminated between sets consisting of different numbers of items by attending to continuous variables (i.e., convex hull and cumulative surface area) rather than by attending to numerosity. Secondly, when discriminating between single geometrical shapes, crickets attend to the width but not to the height of the stimuli.

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Counting insects

Cited by 45 publications

References 83 publications

A re-evaluation of silk measurement by the cecropia caterpillar (Hyalophora cecropia) during cocoon construction reveals use of a silk odometer that is temporally regulated

A re-evaluation of silk measurement by the cecropia caterpillar (Hyalophora cecropia) during cocoon construction reveals use of a silk odometer that is temporally regulated

Symbolic representation of numerosity by honeybees ( Apis mellifera ): matching characters to small quantities

Spontaneous quantity discrimination in crickets

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