The effect of maze complexity on maze-solving time in a desert ant

Bega, Darar; Samocha, Yael; Yitzhak, Nitzan; Saar, Maya; Subach, Aziz; Scharf, Inon

doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103893

Cited by 10 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Our analysis suggests that even when workers know that food is present nearby, they do not move forward more than they do in the absence of such information. The fact that the workers occasionally returned back in the nest's direction is supported by a previous study suggesting that "self-avoiding random search" explains better the search mechanism of the same ant species in a maze than "depth-first search" [55]. Self-avoiding random search allows revisiting cells in the maze, while depth-first search does not.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…We did so in order to examine differences in maze-solving time among treatments and to explain these differences if detected. We took colony size into account as a covariate, because this often affects the number of workers foraging [55,[78][79]. We then calculated the change in maze-solving time (ΔMST), spatial learning (L = ΔK), forward movements (ΔM), and maze entries (ΔME) by subtracting the third run from the first run.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ants use various environmental cues and innate abilities, such as a combination of polarized light and step integrator, to estimate their location in respect to the nest; they can also use landmarks and their innate sense of direction in order to choose the shortest path back to the nest, following food discovery [47][48][49][50]. Mazes have been traditionally used to test exploration and spatial learning in ants [27,[51][52][53][54][55]. Studies using mazes have demonstrated, for example, that foraging ants can learn a sequence of landmarks that guide them back to the nest in a maze [56][57].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Messor, Camponotus, and other Cataglyphis ant species cooccur in the habitat [58][59]. The area comprises stabilized and semi-stabilized dunes, including patches of vegetation [55,60]. We used this species owing to its individual foraging strategy lacking recruitment and trail pheromones, its occurrence in a variety of habitats, and its mediumsized colonies, which are relatively easy to collect and maintain in the laboratory [61][62][63][64][65].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We housed the colonies in Plexiglas nests (20×20×5 cm) in the laboratory (~28˚C; 12:12 L:D) and provided them with water in tubes sealed with cotton wool. The experiment started two days after collection (similar to [55]). Following the experiment, we kept them in the laboratory for further research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Non-spatial information on the presence of food elevates search intensity in ant workers, leading to faster maze solving in a process parallel to spatial learning

et al. 2020

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Experience can lead to faster exploitation of food patches through spatial learning or other parallel processes. Past studies have indicated that hungry animals either search more intensively for food or learn better how to detect it. However, fewer studies have examined the contribution of non-spatial information on the presence of food nearby to maze solving, as a parallel process to spatial learning. We exposed Cataglyphis niger ant workers to a food reward and then let them search for food in a maze. The information that food existed nearby, even without spatial information, led to faster maze solving compared to a control group that was not exposed to the food prior to the experiment. Faster solving is probably achieved by a higher number of workers entering the maze, following the information that food is present nearby. In a second experiment, we allowed the ants to make successive searches in the maze, followed by removing them after they had returned to the nest and interacted with their naïve nestmates. This procedure led to a maze-solving time in-between that displayed when removing the workers immediately after they had reached the food and preventing their return to the colony, and that of no removal. The workers that interacted upon returning to the nest might have transferred to naïve workers information, unrelated to spatial learning, that food existed nearby, and driven them to commence searching. Spatial learning, or an increase in the correct movements leading to the food reward relative to those leading to dead-ends, was only evident when the same workers were allowed to search again in the same maze. However, both non-spatial information on the presence of food that elevated search intensity and spatial learning led to faster maze solving. OPEN ACCESSCitation: Bega D, Samocha Y, Yitzhak N, Saar M, Subach A, Scharf I (2020) Non-spatial information on the presence of food elevates search intensity in ant workers, leading to faster maze solving in a process parallel to spatial learning. PLoS ONE 15 (2): e0229709. https://doi.org/10.We collected 59 colonies of Cataglyphis niger from the Tel-Baruch sand dunes in Tel Aviv, Israel (32.132N, 34.788E), a public land. These sand dunes are an enclave of a disturbed natural Non-spatial information and maze solving in ants PLOS ONE | https://doi.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Non-spatial information on the presence of food elevates search intensity in ant workers, leading to faster maze solving in a process parallel to spatial learning

et al. 2020

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Can rats and ants exchange information between the horizontal and vertical domains?

et al. 2022

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Leg or antenna injury inCataglyphisants impairs survival but does not hinder searching for food

et al. 2021

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Injury is common in nature resulting, for example, from fighting, partial predation, or the wear of body parts. Injury is costly, expressed in impaired performance, failure in competition, and a shorter lifespan. A survey of the literature revealed the frequent occurrence of injury in ants and its various causes. We examined whether leg- or antenna injury impacts food-discovery time and reduces the likelihood of reaching food in workers of the desert ant Cataglyphis niger. We examined the search-related consequences of injury in groups of either four or eight workers searching for food in a short arena, a long arena, and a maze. We conducted a small field survey to evaluate the prevalence of injury in the studied population. Finally, we compared the survival rates of injured vs. uninjured workers in the laboratory. Injury was common in the field, with almost 9% of the workers collected out of the nest, found to be injured. Injured workers survived shorter than uninjured ones and there was a positive link between injury severity and survival. However, we could not detect an effect of injury on any of the searching-related response variables, neither in the arenas nor in the mazes tested. We suggest that workers that survive such injury are only moderately affected by it.

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The effect of maze complexity on maze-solving time in a desert ant

Cited by 10 publications

References 60 publications

Non-spatial information on the presence of food elevates search intensity in ant workers, leading to faster maze solving in a process parallel to spatial learning

Non-spatial information on the presence of food elevates search intensity in ant workers, leading to faster maze solving in a process parallel to spatial learning

Can rats and ants exchange information between the horizontal and vertical domains?

Leg or antenna injury inCataglyphisants impairs survival but does not hinder searching for food

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