Innate visual attraction in wood ants is a hardwired behavior seen across different motivational and ecological contexts.pdf (1.62 MB)
Innate visual attraction in wood ants is a hardwired behavior seen across different motivational and ecological contexts
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 05:09 authored by Cornelia BuehlmannCornelia Buehlmann, Paul GrahamPaul GrahamAnts are expert navigators combining innate and learnt navigational strategies. Whereas we know that the ants’ feeding state segregates visual–navigational memories in ants navigating along a learnt route, it is an open question if the motivational state also affects the ants’ innate visual preferences. Wood ant foragers show an innate attraction to conspicuous visual cues. These foragers inhabit cluttered woodland habitat and feed on honeydew from aphids on trees. Hence, the attraction to ‘tree-like’ objects might be an ecologically relevant behavior that is tailored to the wood ants’ foraging ecology. Foragers from other ant species with different foraging ecologies show very different innate attractions. We investigated here the innate visual response of wood ant foragers with different motivational states, i.e., unfed or fed, as well as males that show no foraging activity. Our results show that ants from all three groups orient toward a prominent visual cue, i.e., this intrinsic visuomotor response is not context-dependent, but a hardwired behavior seen across different motivational and ecological contexts.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Insectes SociauxISSN
0020-1812Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLCExternal DOI
Volume
69Page range
271-277Event location
FranceDepartment affiliated with
- Informatics Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2022-10-18First Open Access (FOA) Date
2022-10-18First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2022-10-18Usage metrics
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