Ants’ capability of associating odors with time periods of the day

Cammaerts, Marie-Claire; Cammaerts, Roger

doi:10.1007/s10164-022-00770-1

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…In addition, we showed that they effectively used the learned sequence of odors for navigating between their nest and food. Moreover, since they can associate odors with the time of the day during which they perceived them [10], they should be able to use a learned odor sequence for navigating in the wild during the time period when the environmental conditions are suitable and the exposure to predation is minimalized.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The workers of the ant M. sabuleti detains many skills, among others numerical ones, and a few of them concern odors. For example, they can add and subtract odors [9], and can associate odors with the time period of the day during which they were perceived [10]. They can also guess the following element of an increasing or a decreasing arithmetic or geometric sequence, being thus able to perceive and memorize a sequence [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Workers of the Ant Myrmica sabuleti can Learn and Use a Sequence of Four Odors to Navigate between Nest and Food Site

MC*

2023

JEASc

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The ant Myrmica sabuleti uses essentially odors for navigating. It has also several skills which presume that it could learn, memorize a sequence of odors and afterwards use it for navigating. By training (operative conditioning) then testing forager workers, we demonstrate that these ants are able to soon learn and memorize a sequence of four odors, i.e., thyme, lavender, basilica, and orange zest, linearly set during training between the nest entrance and the food site, and a simple additional experiment showed that the trained ants effectively used the learned sequence of odors for moving between the nest and the food. Moreover, as workers of this ant can associate odors with the time of the day during which they perceive them, they should be able to use a memorized sequence of odors at appropriate time periods in order to optimize a safe navigation. As this ant is known to use visual cues, odometry, area marking, and deposition of the trail pheromone to navigate, it is also liable to combine these strategies with that of following odor sequences.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Workers of the Ant Myrmica sabuleti can Learn and Use a Sequence of Four Odors to Navigate between Nest and Food Site

MC*

2023

JEASc

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“…The workers of the ant M. sabuleti use essentially odors for navigating (Cammarts & Rachidi, 2009). They can associate perceived odors with the time period of this perception (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2022d). However, for navigating in nature, it should be useful to recognize and use a few odors.…”

Section: Learning and Use Of A Sequence Of Odors For Navigatingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Summary of Newly Found Ants’ Cognitive Abilities, and Their Occurrence in Humans

Cammaerts¹,

Cammaerts²

2023

JBLS

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Authors studied the cognitive abilities of the ant Myrmica sabuleti Meinert 1861, and in addition to the separate publications of their findings, they also summarized them in until now three papers. Here, the authors summarize their eight last findings, and report similar abilities in humans as well as advices for acquiring and using them. The ants can associate visual cues, numbers of elements, and odors with the time periods of their occurrence, and do so taking into account the characteristics of the elements. Humans should do so for ameliorating their daily life. For adding two numbers, the ants must see them with a time gap not exceeding 8 minutes. The ants discriminate recent and previously perceived events, locating the recent but not the old ones on a ‘time line’. Humans must learn to evaluate the passing time, to have a ‘time line’. The ants’ time perception is underestimated when they are more active. This is true for humans, and must be considered while working, playing or doing nothing (e.g., elderly persons). The ants can navigate using a learned (memorized) sequence of odors. Humans must learn sequences of cues for finding their way. The ants discriminate even and odd numbers until the number 7. Humans are sensitive to numbers’ parity, and this should freely impact their choice. Shortly, the authors revealed four cognitive abilities in ants which should occur in humans, natively or acquired through experiences, at a more precise, complex and extended level, in order to provide them with an as comfortable as possible live.

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Ants’ capability of associating odors with time periods of the day

Cited by 2 publications

References 35 publications

The Workers of the Ant Myrmica sabuleti can Learn and Use a Sequence of Four Odors to Navigate between Nest and Food Site

The Workers of the Ant Myrmica sabuleti can Learn and Use a Sequence of Four Odors to Navigate between Nest and Food Site

Summary of Newly Found Ants’ Cognitive Abilities, and Their Occurrence in Humans

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