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Schatz, Bertrand; Wcislo, William T.

doi:10.1023/a:1020927703689

Cited by 27 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Interestingly, and also in agreement with the life history of E. ruidum, we observed high levels of performance when ants were conditioned to visual stimuli. As hunters, E. ruidum foragers may rely on wide-range or sit-and-wait strategies (Schatz and Wcislo, 1999), showing a relevant role of visual information. Visual stimuli may incorporate features of the prey (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most interestingly, further experiments should incorporate motion. Foragers of E. ruidum can increase their foraging success on halictid bees by implementing ambush hunting at the nest entrance (Schatz and Wcislo, 1999). One would expect identification of prey and rapid release of a behavioral pattern for catching to be involved.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One would expect identification of prey and rapid release of a behavioral pattern for catching to be involved. In fact, movement of prey leads to behavioral patterns, such as stinging, that are not observed during collection of suitable immobile prey (Schatz and Wcislo, 1999). Moreover, in the closely related Ectatomma tuberculatum, a more visual hunter, conditioning using the MaLER is challenging because of high attention to any object getting close to the head (A.J.R., B.V.E.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stimulus-dependent learning and memory in the neotropical ant Ectatomma ruidum

Riveros

Entler

Seid

2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Learning and memory are major cognitive processes strongly tied to the life histories of animals. In ants, chemotactile information generally plays a central role in social interaction, navigation and resource exploitation. However, in hunters, visual information should take special relevance during foraging, thus leading to differential use of information from different sensory modalities. Here, we aimed to test whether a hunter, the neotropical ant Ectatomma ruidum, differentially learns stimuli acquired through multiple sensory channels. We evaluated the performance of E. ruidum workers when trained using olfactory, mechanical, chemotactile and visual stimuli under a restrained protocol of appetitive learning. Conditioning of the maxilla labium extension response enabled control of the stimuli provided. Our results show that ants learn faster and remember for longer when trained using chemotactile or visual stimuli than when trained using olfactory and mechanical stimuli separately. These results agree with the life history of E. ruidum, characterized by a high relevance of chemotactile information acquired through antennation as well as the role of vision during hunting.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stimulus-dependent learning and memory in the neotropical ant Ectatomma ruidum

Riveros

Entler

Seid

2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Head and mandible shapes are highly integrated yet represent two distinct modules within and among worker subcastes of the ant genus Pheidole

Casadei-Ferreira

Friedman

Economo

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Unique nest entrance structure of Partamona helleri stingless bees leads to remarkable ‘crash-landing’ behaviour

et al. 2019

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Partamona helleri stingless bees construct a unique, funnel-shaped entrance that resolves an evolutionary conflict between foraging efficiency and defence. The large outer entrance allows many foragers to pass while the narrow inner entrance requires few guards to defend. This structure has given rise to a remarkable behaviour in returning foragers, which appear to approach the nest entrance at high speed and 'crash' head first into the entrance. We compared P. helleri landing behaviour with two related species with architecturally different entrances that land conventionally using their legs: Melipona scutellaris, whose narrow entrance allows only a single bee to pass, and Scaptotrigona depilis, which has a wide entrance tube. All three species initially decelerated on their approach to the nest entrance. However, 0.2 m from the entrance P. helleri began accelerating, whereas the other species continued to decelerate. Partamona helleri entered its nest at 1.14 ms −1 , double the velocity of the other species. Despite its greater velocity, P. helleri made no fewer errors than the other species when attempting to enter its nest, probably by virtue of the large target provided by the outer entrance. We then used a bioassay that suggests that this behaviour is a defence against ambush predators at the nest entrance. Finally, we use a scaling argument to show that the crash impact should not cause any damage to a small animal such as a bee, such that no morphological adaptation is required.

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Untitled

Cited by 27 publications

References 48 publications

Stimulus-dependent learning and memory in the neotropical ant Ectatomma ruidum

Stimulus-dependent learning and memory in the neotropical ant Ectatomma ruidum

Head and mandible shapes are highly integrated yet represent two distinct modules within and among worker subcastes of the ant genus Pheidole

Unique nest entrance structure of Partamona helleri stingless bees leads to remarkable ‘crash-landing’ behaviour

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