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Visual scanning behaviours and their role in the navigation of the Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-15, 20:56 authored by Antoine Wystrach, Andy PhilippidesAndy Philippides, Amandine Aurejac, Ken Cheng, Paul Graham
Ants are excellent navigators, using a combination of innate strategies and learnt information to guide habitual routes. The mechanisms underlying this behaviour are little understood though one avenue of investigation is to explore how innate sensori-motor routines are used to accomplish route navigation. For instance, Australian desert ant foragers are occasionally observed to cease translation and rotate on the spot. Here, we investigate this behaviour using high-speed videography and computational analysis. We find that scanning behaviour is saccadic with pauses separated by fast rotations. Further, we have identified four situations where scanning is typically displayed: (1) by naïve ants on their first departure from the nest; (2) by experienced ants departing from the nest for their first foraging trip of the day; (3) by experienced ants when the familiar visual surround was experimentally modified, in which case frequency and duration of scans were proportional to the degree of modification; (4) when the information from visual cues is at odds with the direction indicated by the ant’s path integration system. Taken together, we see a general relationship between scanning behaviours and periods of uncertainty.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Journal of Comparative Physiology A

ISSN

0340-7594

Publisher

Springer Verlag

Issue

7

Volume

200

Page range

615-626

Department affiliated with

  • Informatics Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-06-19

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2015-06-19

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