The visual perception of the ant Myrmica ruginodis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

Myrmica ruginodis workers are able to distinguish black or white circles from black or white squares, black or white ellipses from black or white rectangles as well as hollow circles or ellipses from hollow squares or rectangles. They can also distinguish differently oriented elements as well as objects containing a various number of elements. These workers are also able to perceive and discriminate transparent cues on a black background and even small luminous spots on a black ceiling. Such visual abilities are in agreement with the species' eye morphology and system of navigation: the eyes are rather large with a well-developed posterio-dorsal part, and the foragers rely exclusively on cues located above them, neglecting odorous elements as long as visual perception is possible. Probably, they might use cues located in the canopy and the sky to travel in certain circumstances.

Potential Harmful Effects of Carbamazepine on Aquatic Organisms, A Study Using Ants as Invertebrate Models

“…Their behavior is well developed: they care for their brood, build sophisticated nests, chemically mark the inside of their nest, and, differently, their nest entrances, their nest surroundings and their foraging area (Passera & Aron, 2005). They generally use an alarm signal, a trail pheromone, and a recruitment signal (Passera & Aron, 2005); they are able to navigate using memorized visual and olfactory cues (Cammaerts, 2012 and references therein); they efficiently recruit nestmates where, when and as long as it is necessary (Passera, 2006), and, finally, they clean their nest and provide their area with cemeteries (Keller & Gordon, 2006). So, according to the complexity of their society and their behavior, it looks reasonable to use ants as biological models for studying physiological and ethological effects of neuronal active substances.…”

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“…It was thus impossible to perform, on the same ants, conditioning first under sugar diet, then under stevia diet. The only solution was to use previous results obtained in the course of identical experiments made on similar colonies being under sugar diet 19 .…”

“…Half of the tests were conducted with the arch or the odorous plant in the left branch and the other half with the arch or the odorous plant in the right branch of the Y maze, and this was randomly chosen. Control experiments had previously been made on never conditioned ants and on trained ants of colonies being under sugar water diet 19, Tables 1 and 2 . This had to be done because, once an animal is conditioned to a given stimulus, it becomes no longer naïve for such an experiment.…”

“…We know some of its annual cycle 15 , its ecological traits, eye morphology 16 , subtended angle of vision 17 , visual perception 18 , navigation system 13 , visual and olfactory conditioning capabilities 19 , and recruitment strategy 20 . The ontogenesis of cognitive abilities of Myrmica species, has also been approached 21 .…”

“…The colonies C, D, E and F were collected at Haine St Paul (Hainaut, Belgium), on the slag heap named Chef Lieu. All the colonies were maintained in the laboratory recruitment signal 12 ; they are able to navigate using memorized visual and olfactory cues 13 ; they efficiently recruit nestmates where, when and as long as it is necessary 14 and finally, they clean their nest and provide their area with cemeteries 14 . According to the complexity of their society and their behavior, it looks reasonable to use ants as biological models for studying physiological and ethological effects of substances, treatments or situations.…”