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Magnetoreception in Cataglyphis hellenica ants
Chiara Tenneriello1, Johanna W Wegmann1,2, Pauline N Fleischmann3,4
1AG Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty V, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26129, Oldenburg, Germany.
Summary
Desert ants, Cataglyphis hellenica, use Earth's geomagnetic field (GMF) for navigation. This study confirms their magnetic sense, showing they align their gaze to their nest entrance even when the GMF is experimentally altered.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Neuroethology
- Sensory biology
Background:
- Magnetoreception enables animals to use the geomagnetic field (GMF) for orientation.
- Cataglyphis ants are key models for insect navigation and magnetoreception.
- Cataglyphis nodus is the only desert ant species previously known to use GMF for gaze alignment during learning walks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate magnetoreception in Cataglyphis hellenica, a species phylogenetically distant from C. nodus.
- To determine if C. hellenica utilizes the GMF for spatial orientation during learning walks.
- To assess the prevalence of GMF-based navigation in Cataglyphis ants.
Main Methods:
- Observing Cataglyphis hellenica during learning walks with pirouettes.
- Experimentally altering the horizontal component of the GMF (180° or +120°).
- Analyzing ant gaze direction in response to GMF alterations relative to the nest entrance.
Main Results:
- Cataglyphis hellenica ants demonstrated gaze alignment to the nest entrance position even when the GMF was experimentally altered.
- The ants' behavior confirmed the use of the GMF for directing their gaze during pirouettes.
- This provides evidence for magnetoreception in a second Cataglyphis species.
Conclusions:
- Cataglyphis hellenica possesses a magnetic sense, using the GMF to orient their gaze towards the nest entrance.
- Magnetoreception is confirmed in C. hellenica, in addition to C. nodus.
- The use of GMF for path integration appears common, rather than unique, among Cataglyphis species.
