Vector calibration in Australian desert ants, Melophorus bagoti : Effects of a delay after the acquisition of vector information

Ethology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (12) ◽  
pp. 890-901
Author(s):  
Vito A. G. Lionetti ◽  
Ken Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Desert Ants ◽  
Vector Information ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

The effect of spatially restricted experience on extrapolating learned views in desert ants, Melophorus bagoti

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1063-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudhakar Deeti ◽  
Kazuki Fujii ◽  
Ken Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Desert Ants ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

Not using the obvious: desert ants, Melophorus bagoti, learn local vectors but not beacons in an arena

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 849-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric L. G. Legge ◽  
Marcia L. Spetch ◽  
Ken Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Desert Ants ◽  
Local Vectors ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

Visual Matching in the Orientation of Desert Ants (Melophorus bagoti): The Effect of Changing Skyline Height

Ethology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 120 (8) ◽  
pp. 783-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eglantine Julle-Daniere ◽  
Patrick Schultheiss ◽  
Antoine Wystrach ◽  
Sebastian Schwarz ◽  
Sabine S. Nooten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Desert Ants ◽  
Visual Matching ◽  
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.

Information content of visual scenes influences systematic search of desert ants (Melophorus bagoti)

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric L. G. Legge ◽  
Patrick Schultheiss ◽  
Antoine Wystrach ◽  
Marcia L. Spetch ◽  
Ken Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Information Content ◽  
Systematic Search ◽  
Desert Ants ◽  
Visual Scenes ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

scholarly journals Combining sky and earth: desert ants (Melophorus bagoti) show weighted integration of celestial and terrestrial cues

2014 ◽  
Vol 217 (23) ◽  
pp. 4159-4166 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. G. Legge ◽  
A. Wystrach ◽  
M. L. Spetch ◽  
K. Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Desert Ants ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

Desert ants (Melophorus bagoti) navigating with robustness to distortions of the natural panorama

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Schwarz ◽  
E. Julle-Daniere ◽  
L. Morin ◽  
P. Schultheiss ◽  
A. Wystrach ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Desert Ants ◽  
Melophorus Bagoti

scholarly journals Flexible weighing of olfactory and vector information in the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 20130070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelia Buehlmann ◽  
Bill S. Hansson ◽  
Markus Knaden
Keyword(s):  
Path Integration ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Feeding Site ◽  
Desert Ants ◽  
Desert Ant ◽  
Vector Information ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Path Integrator ◽  
Odour Plumes ◽  
Cataglyphis Fortis

Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis , are equipped with remarkable skills that enable them to navigate efficiently. When travelling between the nest and a previously visited feeding site, they perform path integration (PI), but pinpoint the nest or feeder by following odour plumes. Homing ants respond to nest plumes only when the path integrator indicates that they are near home. This is crucial, as homing ants often pass through plumes emanating from foreign nests and do not discriminate between the plume of their own and that of a foreign nest, but should absolutely avoid entering a wrong nest. Their behaviour towards food odours differs greatly. Here, we show that in ants on the way to food, olfactory information outweighs PI information. Although PI guides ants back to a learned feeder, the ants respond to food odours independently of whether or not they are close to the learned feeding site. This ability is beneficial, as new food sources—unlike foreign nests—never pose a threat but enable ants to shorten distances travelled while foraging. While it has been shown that navigating C. fortis ants rely strongly on PI, we report here that the ants retained the necessary flexibility in the use of PI.

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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