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Backtracking behaviour in lost ants: an additional strategy in their navigational toolkit.
Antoine Wystrach1, Sebastian Schwarz, Alice Baniel
1Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia. a.wystrach@sussex.ac.uk
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|August 23, 2013
Summary
Ants exhibit a novel "backtracking" navigation behavior when displaced near their nest. This strategy, distinct from systematic search, helps ants return to familiar territory by retracing their recent path.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Neuroethology
- Insect navigation
Background:
- Ants utilize multiple navigation systems: path integration, systematic search, and learned visual information.
- These systems are not fully integrated into a unified spatial representation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate a potential additional navigational system in ants.
- To characterize the 'backtracking' behavior observed in homing ants.
Main Methods:
- Observing homing ants displaced to unfamiliar locations near their nest.
- Analyzing heading directions and comparing them to systematic search patterns.
- Assessing the ecological success of backtracking in returning to familiar terrain.
Main Results:
- Displaced ants did not engage in undirected systematic searches.
- Instead, they exhibited 'backtracking,' moving in the opposite compass direction of their recent path.
- This backtracking behavior significantly increased the likelihood of reaching familiar terrain.
Conclusions:
- Ants possess a 'memory of the current trip' influencing navigation.
- Navigation systems can share information, indicating higher cognitive complexity.
- A revised model of ant navigation is proposed, incorporating backtracking and inter-system communication.
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