Abstract
Although visual cues are essential for navigation in ants, few studies address movement dynamics in ants when they search and forage after finding food in an unfamiliar environment. Here I introduced Japanese wood ants to an unfamiliar food location by capturing individuals leaving their nest. The food was located at the centre of a straight, narrow, open-top channel. Next, I determined the segment lengths of the foraging paths of the ants between consecutive U-turns. I found that individuals travelled along characteristic and complex paths if they detected a visual landmark. This movement property was not detectable when individuals foraged in the channel without any visual landmarks. These results reveal the movement dynamics of ants when they encounter food in a novel place.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - Jan 1 2018 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Foraging
- Japanese wood ants
- Movement strategy
- Pink noise
- Visual information
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Physiology
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Cite this
Emergence of a complex movement pattern in an unfamiliar food place by foraging ants. / Sakiyama, Tomoko.
In: Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 01.01.2018.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Emergence of a complex movement pattern in an unfamiliar food place by foraging ants
AU - Sakiyama, Tomoko
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Although visual cues are essential for navigation in ants, few studies address movement dynamics in ants when they search and forage after finding food in an unfamiliar environment. Here I introduced Japanese wood ants to an unfamiliar food location by capturing individuals leaving their nest. The food was located at the centre of a straight, narrow, open-top channel. Next, I determined the segment lengths of the foraging paths of the ants between consecutive U-turns. I found that individuals travelled along characteristic and complex paths if they detected a visual landmark. This movement property was not detectable when individuals foraged in the channel without any visual landmarks. These results reveal the movement dynamics of ants when they encounter food in a novel place.
AB - Although visual cues are essential for navigation in ants, few studies address movement dynamics in ants when they search and forage after finding food in an unfamiliar environment. Here I introduced Japanese wood ants to an unfamiliar food location by capturing individuals leaving their nest. The food was located at the centre of a straight, narrow, open-top channel. Next, I determined the segment lengths of the foraging paths of the ants between consecutive U-turns. I found that individuals travelled along characteristic and complex paths if they detected a visual landmark. This movement property was not detectable when individuals foraged in the channel without any visual landmarks. These results reveal the movement dynamics of ants when they encounter food in a novel place.
KW - Foraging
KW - Japanese wood ants
KW - Movement strategy
KW - Pink noise
KW - Visual information
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056707144&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85056707144&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00359-018-1303-z
DO - 10.1007/s00359-018-1303-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 30446827
AN - SCOPUS:85056707144
JO - Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
JF - Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
SN - 0340-7594
ER -