An experimental study of the foraging strategy of the wood ant Formica aquilonia

Cosens, Derek; Toussaint, Neil

doi:10.1016/s0003-3472(85)80077-4

Cited by 51 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…This also made the ants positively phototactic. Because ants are known to obtain directional information from magnetic field lines (Camlitepe and Stradling, 1995;Camlitepe et al, 2005;Riveros and Srygley, 2008) and idiothetic cues (Cosens and Toussaint, 1985;Aksoy and Camlitepe, 2005), monochromatic test stimuli were interchanged after every fifteenth forager. Prior to each test, food was removed and the feeding boxes were replaced with clean empty ones.…”

Section: Elimination Of Cuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

First evidence of fine colour discrimination ability in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Çamlitepe

Aksoy

2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYIn the present study, we report the first evidence that ants discriminate and learn perceptually close colour stimuli. Foragers of the ant species Cataglyphis aenescens and Formica cunicularia were trained in a Y-maze choice apparatus to monochromatic light stimuli of a constant intensity associated with a food reward. Two stimuli, with a mean wavelength of 40nm perceptual distance, were chosen from the UV (340nm vs 380nm) and the green (510nm vs 550nm) range because these species are UV-green dichromats. Foragers were trained with two conditioning paradigms [absolute conditioning (AC) and differential conditioning (DC)]. In the UV range, C. aenescens foragers failed to discriminate when presented with a small colour difference in both training procedures. Foragers also failed in the green range when trained with AC but showed significant bias towards the rewarded stimulus when trained with DC. Formica cunicularia foragers achieved the task in the UV range when trained with DC only. In the green range, F. cunicularia foragers showed clear preference for the rewarded stimulus in both training conditioning procedures. Foragers never failed in choosing the rewarded stimulus in DC even when the intensity of the rewarded stimulus was reduced by one log unit. This clearly indicates that DC is of paramount importance to discriminate perceptually close colour stimuli.

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Section: Elimination Of Cuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

First evidence of fine colour discrimination ability in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Çamlitepe

Aksoy

2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…In this recruitment process, the chemical trails deposited by foragers returning to the nest may stimulate trail following and serve as a guide to orient rapidly to the target area (see review by Passera, 1984;Beckers et al, 1989;H611dobler and Wilson, 1990). Competition between trail versus visual orientation (sun compass orientation, visual landmarks) during homing or food gathering has been investigated in some species belonging to the genera Pogonomyrmex (H611dobler, 1971; H611dobler, 1976), Camponotus (H611dobler et al, 1974; Klotz and Reid, 1992), Atta, Acromyrmex (Vilela et al, 1987;Jaffe et al, 1990), Formica (M6glich and H6tldobler, 1975;Henquell and Abdi, 1981;Cosens and Toussaint, 1985;Rosengren andFortelius, 1986, 1987;Fourcassi6 and Beugnon, 1988) and Lasius (Traniello, 1989). Visual and chemical orientation cues are used according to a hierarchy which depends upon the species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory and chemical communication in the orientation of two mass-recruiting ant species

Aron¹,

et al. 1993

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SummaryThe relative contribution of visual and chemical components in the orientation of Lasius niger and Iridomyrmex humilis (Argentine ant) workers during mass recruitment to newly discovered food sources is analyzed over short time intervals. While both species orient in response to the trail pheromone, a large number of L. niger foragers rapidly switch to a more individual orientation, based on their memory of environmental cues. L humilis workers, on the other hand, predominantly use collective chemical cues. The effect of the number of reinforcements on visual learning and its interference with chemical communication show that olfactory cues always prevail in the Argentine ant. In L. niger, the proportion of ants orienting to visual cues is independent of the trail concentration. Detailed observations of the trail-laying behavior of individually marked foragers show that nearly all the L humilis workers initially lay a trail, whereas only half the L. nige~ foragers do so. This proportion decreases considerably with the number of trips performed by L. niger workers, while remaining constant for the Argentine ants. These results are interpreted with respect to the species' behavioral ecology.

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“…Although volatiles from the herbivore itself would provide reliable information to the predator (Vet and Dicke, 1992;Wiskerke et al, 1993), the distribution of both predator species in the field was not related to the number of adult weevils captured in pheromone traps indicating that the aggregation pheromone released by male C. sordidus is not used by the predators in the field. In addition to the lack of response to the aggregation pheromone, generalist predators such as formicine ants have not been reported to use prey-derived chemicals as kairomones during foraging (Cosens and Toussaint, 1985). In contrast, several other predator species have been reported to use pheromones of their prey during prey searching and location (Dwumfour, 1992;Hedlund et al, 1996;Haberkern and Raffa, 2003;Steidle and van Loon, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Olfactory Responses of Banana Weevil Predators to Volatiles from Banana Pseudostem Tissue and Synthetic Pheromone

et al. 2005

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Abstract-As a response to attack by herbivores, plants can emit a variety of volatile substances that attract natural enemies of these insect pests. Predators of the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) such as Dactylosternum abdominale (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) and Pheidole megacephala (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), are normally found in association with weevil-infested rotten pseudostems and harvested stumps. We investigated whether these predators are attracted to such environments in response to volatiles produced by the host plant, by the weevil, or by the weevilYplant complex. We evaluated predator responses towards volatiles from banana pseudostem tissue (synomones) and the synthetic banana weevil aggregation pheromone Cosmolure+ in a two-choice olfactometer. The beetle D. abdominale was attracted to fermenting banana pseudostem tissue and Cosmolure+, whereas the ant P. megacephala was attracted only to fermented pseudostem tissue. Both predators were attracted to banana pseudostem tissue that had been damaged by weevil larvae irrespective of weevil presence. Adding pheromone did not enhance predator response to volatiles from pseudostem tissue fed on by weevils. The numbers of both predators recovered with pseudostem traps in the field from banana mats with a pheromone trap were similar to those in pseudostem traps at different distance ranges from the pheromone. Our study shows that the generalist predators D.

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An experimental study of the foraging strategy of the wood ant Formica aquilonia

Cited by 51 publications

References 23 publications

First evidence of fine colour discrimination ability in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

First evidence of fine colour discrimination ability in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Memory and chemical communication in the orientation of two mass-recruiting ant species

Olfactory Responses of Banana Weevil Predators to Volatiles from Banana Pseudostem Tissue and Synthetic Pheromone

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