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Published on: November 6, 2016
Local and global navigational coordinate systems in desert ants
Matthew Collett1, Thomas S Collett
1Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK. matthew.collett@zoo.ox.ac.uk
The Journal of Experimental Biology
|March 14, 2009
Summary
Desert ants use path integration (PI) for navigation. Experiments show that even when familiar cues are encountered, ants do not reset their internal coordinates, suggesting separate memory systems for routes and nest location.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Neuroscience
- Navigation
Background:
- Desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis) use path integration (PI) to navigate.
- Ants maintain nest-based coordinates and remember food site locations.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate if ants associate familiar views with PI coordinates along habitual routes.
- Determine if familiar landmarks trigger a reset of PI coordinates.
Main Methods:
- Manipulated PI coordinates of ants at a distinctive point on a habitual route.
- Displaced ants from the food site to a test ground to observe their home vectors.
Main Results:
- Ants with manipulated PI coordinates did not reset them at familiar points.
- This indicates that route memory does not override existing PI coordinates.
Conclusions:
- Local vector memories are stored in a separate, route-based coordinate system.
- A new model for PI-based guidance is proposed, accounting for separate coordinate systems.
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