Nest Relocation and Colony Founding in the Australian Desert Ant,<i>Melophorus bagoti</i>Lubbock (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Schultheiss, Patrick; Schwarz, Sebastian; Wystrach, Antoine

doi:10.1155/2010/435838

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The landscape is typically dotted by buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) but also marked by larger trees (Acacia estrophiolata, Hakea eyreana and Eucalyptus species) providing distal landmarks for navigation. The thermophilic red honey ant Melophorus bagoti Lubbock 1883 forages during hot summer days, mainly on dead insects, seeds and sugary plant exudates (Muser et al, 2005;Schultheiss et al, 2010). Foragers navigate outdoors individually, relying heavily on vision and without the help of chemical trails (Cheng et al, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants might use different view-matching strategies on and off the route

Wystrach

Beugnon

Chen

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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108

122

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SUMMARYIndividual foraging ants are known to rely on views of their surroundings for route learning and for pinpointing goals. Different strategies have been proposed to explain how ants might process visual information for navigation, but little is known about the actual development and nature of the view-based strategies used by ants in complex natural environments. Here, we constrained the knowledge of Melophorus bagoti ants to either the nest vicinity or a curved route (length 10m) and analysed their initial direction when released at both novel and familiar locations. In parallel, we used 360deg pictures of the scene as a basis for modelling different navigational strategies. We propose here a new hypothesis based on skyline height comparison to explain how ants home from novel locations. Interestingly, this strategy succeeded well at novel locations but failed on familiar terrain. By contrast, the use of a visual compass strategy failed at novel locations but could explain the results on familiar routes. We suggest that ants might switch between skyline height comparison and a visual compass strategy, depending on whether they are on familiar terrain or not. How ants could switch between strategies and how their memories develop are discussed in turn.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants might use different view-matching strategies on and off the route

Wystrach

Beugnon

Chen

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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108

122

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“…tree. Foragers of this species venture out of the nest in the heat of the day (Christian and Morton, 1992) and forage for dead insects, sugary plant excretions and seeds (Muser et al, 2005;Schultheiss et al, 2010). In its harsh desert habitat, M. bagoti does not use chemical trails to guide foragers.…”

Section: Materials and Methods Study Species And Experimental Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information content of visual scenes influences systematic search of desert ants

Schultheiss

Wystrach

Legge

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYMany animals -including insects -navigate visually through their environment. Solitary foraging desert ants are known to acquire visual information from the surrounding panorama and use it to navigate along habitual routes or to pinpoint a goal such as the nest. Returning foragers that fail to find the nest entrance engage in searching behaviour, during which they continue to use vision. The characteristics of searching behaviour have typically been investigated in unfamiliar environments. Here we investigated in detail the nest-searching behaviour of Melophorus bagoti foragers within the familiar visual environment of their nest. First, by relating search behaviour to the information content of panoramic (360deg) images, we found that searches were more accurate in visually cluttered environments. Second, as observed in unfamiliar visual surrounds, searches were dynamic and gradually expanded with time, showing that nest pinpointing is not rigidly controlled by vision. Third, contrary to searches displayed in unfamiliar environments, searches observed here could be modelled as a single exponential search strategy, which is similar to a Brownian walk, and there was no evidence of a Lévy walk. Overall, our results revealed that searching behaviour is remarkably flexible and varies according to the relevance of information provided by the surrounding visual scenery.

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“…M. bagoti, also a highly thermophilic desert ant (Christian & Morton, 1992;R. Wehner & S. Wehner, 2011), is widespread in Central Australia and inhabits a cluttered environment filled with grass tussocks, bushes, even tall trees, and in some areas, distant hills (Cheng et al, 2009;Muser, Sommer, Wolf, & Wehner, 2005;Schultheiss, Schwarz, & Wystrach, 2010). The paucity of visual cues means that path integration is more important for C. fortis than it is for M. bagoti, as it is typically the only means of navigating home.…”

Section: Taxon-like Ant Navigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Navigate without Maps: The Power of Taxon-like Navigation in Ants

Chen¹

2012

CCBR

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Rodents are said to have two different navigational systems, a map-like locale system and a route-based taxon system consisting of sensorimotor routines such as beaconing and turns at appropriate stimulus conditions (motor routines). Ants on the other hand are not known for map-like navigation, and seem to get by with a repertoire of taxon-like strategies. I review how this repertoire serves ants in making up for the lack of a locale system. Path integration -keeping track of the straight-line distance and direction from the starting point -operates continuously in the background, and can be called upon as necessary, or relied on in habitats in which no useful visual cues are available. Crucial to the power of a taxon-like repertoire is using the full panoramic visual context, both to guide the operation of strategies (context-modulated servomechanisms) and to guide navigation directly. The entire repertoire is backed up by systematic search strategies. I end with some reflections on the power of taxon-like strategies.

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Nest Relocation and Colony Founding in the Australian Desert Ant,Melophorus bagotiLubbock (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cited by 16 publications

References 20 publications

Ants might use different view-matching strategies on and off the route

Ants might use different view-matching strategies on and off the route

Information content of visual scenes influences systematic search of desert ants

How to Navigate without Maps: The Power of Taxon-like Navigation in Ants

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