Carpenter ants use diverse antennae sampling strategies to track odor trails

McGill, Matthew R; Kapoor, Vikrant; Murthy, Venkatesh N.

doi:10.1101/327379

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Our finding thus suggests interesting implications for the evolution of cross-modal behaviors. Rather than endow a salt-sensitive modality, such as taste, with the ability to regulate navigational behaviors, natural selection has led to the incorporation of salt sensitivity into a different modality, olfaction, that already influences navigation across animals as diverse and flies and mice 39,40,41 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larval zebrafish use olfactory detection of sodium and chloride to avoid salt-water

Herrera

Panier

Guggiana-Nilo³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Salinity levels constrain the habitable environment of all aquatic organisms. Zebrafish are freshwater fish that cannot tolerate high salt environments and would, therefore, benefit from neural mechanisms that enable the navigation of salt gradients to avoid high salinity. Yet, zebrafish lack epithelial sodium channels, the primary conduit land animals use to taste sodium. This suggests fish may possess novel, undescribed mechanisms for salt detection. In the present study, we show that zebrafish, indeed, respond to small temporal increases in salt by reorienting more frequently. Further, we use calcium imaging techniques to identify the olfactory system as the primary sense used for salt detection, and we find that a specific subset of olfactory receptor neurons encodes absolute salinity concentrations by detecting monovalent anions and cations. In summary, our study establishes that zebrafish larvae have the ability to navigate, and thus detect salinity gradients, and that this is achieved through previously undescribed sensory mechanisms for salt detection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larval zebrafish use olfactory detection of sodium and chloride to avoid salt-water

Herrera

Panier

Guggiana-Nilo³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Experimental studies demonstrate the ability of ants, dogs, humans, and rodents to track odor trails 1–6 . Rodents accurately track trails in the dark, remaining close to the trail and casting when contact is lost (Figure 1a) 5 .…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rodents accurately track trails in the dark, remaining close to the trail and casting when contact is lost (Figure 1a) 5 . Carpenter ants closely follow a trail while sampling it using a “criss-cross” pattern with their two antennae (Figure 1b) 1 . Current models of this behavior rely on variants of chemotaxis 7 based on continuous estimates of the rising and falling odor gradients as the trail is crossed.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…One such strategy compares simultaneous odor concentrations detected by two spatially separated sensors 8 . Yet, rats with a blocked nostril 5 and ants with a single antenna 1 are still able to track trails, although less accurately. An alternative chemotaxis strategy has the animal measuring odor gradients along its trajectory and turning when a significant decrease is perceived 5 .…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Note the wide casts on extended loss of contact with the trail. (b) A carpenter ant tracking an odor trail (black) using a stereotyped “criss-crossing” strategy 1 . (c,d) Sample trajectories obtained from RL for agents with one sensor (panel c) and two sensors (panel d) recapitulate experimentally observed tracking patterns in panels a,b.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Sector search strategies for odor trail tracking

Reddy

Shraiman

Vergassola

2021

Preprint

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Terrestrial animals such as ants, mice and dogs often use surface-bound scent trails to establish navigation routes or to find food and mates, yet their tracking strategies are poorly understood. Tracking behavior features zig-zagging paths with animals often staying in close contact with the trail. Upon sustained loss of contact, animals execute a characteristic sequence of sweeping "casts" -- wide oscillations with increasing amplitude. Here, we provide a unified description of trail-tracking behavior by introducing an optimization framework where animals search in the angular sector defined by their estimate of the trail's heading and its uncertainty. In silico experiments using reinforcement learning based on this hypothesis recapitulate experimentally observed tracking patterns. We show that search geometry imposes limits on the tracking speed, and quantify its dependence on trail statistics and memory of past contacts. By formulating trail-tracking as a Bellman-type sequential optimization problem, we quantify the basic geometric elements of optimal sector search strategy, effectively explaining why and when casting is necessary. We propose a set of experiments to infer how tracking animals acquire, integrate and respond to past information on the tracked trail. More generally, we define navigational strategies relevant for animals and bio-mimetic robots, and formulate trail-tracking as a novel behavioral paradigm for learning, memory and planning.

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