scholarly journals Learning and time-dependent cue choice in the desert ant, Melophorus bagoti

Ethology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 123 (8) ◽  
pp. 503-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cody A. Freas ◽  
Ken Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Time Dependent ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

scholarly journals Ocelli contribute to the encoding of celestial compass information in the Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti

2011 ◽  
Vol 214 (6) ◽  
pp. 901-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Schwarz ◽  
L. Albert ◽  
A. Wystrach ◽  
K. Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Desert Ant ◽  
Celestial Compass ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

Traveling in clutter: Navigation in the Central Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti

2009 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Cheng ◽  
Ajay Narendra ◽  
Stefan Sommer ◽  
Rüdiger Wehner
Keyword(s):  
Desert Ant ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

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

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Schultheiss ◽  
Sebastian Schwarz ◽  
Antoine Wystrach
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Colony Founding ◽  
Circumstantial Evidence ◽  
Nest Relocation ◽  
Desert Ants ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
Multiple Matings ◽  
Trail Laying ◽  
Mating Flights ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

Even after years of research on navigation in the Red Honey Ant,Melophorus bagoti, much of its life history remains elusive. Here, we present observations on nest relocation and the reproductive and founding stages of colonies. Nest relocation is possibly aided by trail laying behaviour, which is highly unusual for solitary foraging desert ants. Reproduction occurs in synchronised mating flights, which are probably triggered by rain. Queens may engage in multiple matings, and there is circumstantial evidence that males are chemically attracted to queens. After the mating flight, the queens found new colonies independently and singly. Excavation of these founding colonies reveals first insights into their structure.

Foraging ecology of the thermophilic Australian desert ant, Melophorus bagoti

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Muser ◽  
Stefan Sommer ◽  
Harald Wolf ◽  
Rüdiger Wehner
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
Foraging Success ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
Foraging Site ◽  
Intercolony Aggression ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

The paper describes the foraging ecology of the Australian desert ant, Melophorus bagoti, a thermophilic, diurnal scavenger with ground-nesting colonies. Overlapping foraging ranges, low foraging success rates, and intercolony aggression suggest intense competition for food between colonies. Daily foraging starts when soil surface temperatures approach 50°C. Workers search individually and collect predominantly dead insects. Occasionally, they consume plant secretions. Foraging activity peaks on mid-summer days. On cloudy days the onset of foraging is delayed, and the foraging activity is low. Ants do not forage on rainy days. Typically, workers start their above-ground activities with a few short exploration runs. On average, they perform one foraging run on the first day of their outdoor lives. With age they gradually increase foraging site fidelity and daily foraging effort. Individual foraging efficiency is low at the beginning but grows with experience. However, due to a high mortality rate and, hence, high forager turnover, average rates of foraging success for a colony remain rather low. The outdoor activity gradually decreases towards the end of summer and appears to stop completely during the winter months.

Multiple sources of celestial compass information in the Central Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti

2014 ◽  
Vol 200 (6) ◽  
pp. 591-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Wystrach ◽  
Sebastian Schwarz ◽  
Patrick Schultheiss ◽  
Alice Baniel ◽  
Ken Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
Celestial Compass ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

Learning, retention and coding of nest-associated visual cues by the Australian desert ant, Melophorus bagoti

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (10) ◽  
pp. 1543-1553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajay Narendra ◽  
Aung Si ◽  
Danielle Sulikowski ◽  
Ken Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Learning Retention ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

scholarly journals Learning walks in an Australian desert ant, Melophorus bagoti

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudhakar Deeti ◽  
Ken Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Visual Landmark ◽  
Desert Ants ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
Learning Walks ◽  
Stopping Phases ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti ◽  
Learning Walk

The Central Australian ant Melophorus bagoti is the most thermophilic ant in Australia and forages solitarily in the summer months during the hottest period of the day. For successful navigation, desert ants of many species are known to integrate a path and learn landmark cues around the nest. Ants perform a series of exploratory walks around the nest before their first foraging trip, during which they are presumed to learn about their landmark panorama. Here, we studied 15 naïve M. bagoti ants transitioning from indoor work to foraging outside the nest. In three to four consecutive days, they performed 3 to 7 exploratory walks before heading off to forage. Naïve ants increased the area of exploration around the nest and the duration of trips over successive learning walks. In their first foraging walk, the majority of the ants followed a direction explored on their last learning walk. During learning walks, the ants stopped and performed stereotypical orientation behaviours called pirouettes. They performed complete body rotations with stopping phases as well as small circular walks without stops known as voltes. After just one learning walk, these desert ants could head in the home direction from locations 2 m from the nest, although not from locations 4 m from the nest. These results suggest gradual learning of the visual landmark panorama around the foragers’ nest. Our observations show that M. bagoti exhibit similar characteristics in their learning walks as other desert ants of the genera Ocymyrmex and Cataglyphis.

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