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Grob R, Holland Cunz O, Grübel K, Pfeiffer K, Rössler W, Fleischmann PN. Rotation of skylight polarization during learning walks is necessary to trigger neuronal plasticity in Cataglyphis ants. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20212499. [PMID: 35078368 PMCID: PMC8790360 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Many animals use celestial cues for impressive navigational performances in challenging habitats. Since the position of the sun and associated skylight cues change throughout the day and season, it is crucial to correct for these changes. Cataglyphis desert ants possess a time-compensated skylight compass allowing them to navigate back to their nest using the shortest way possible. The ants have to learn the sun's daily course (solar ephemeris) during initial learning walks (LW) before foraging. This learning phase is associated with substantial structural changes in visual neuronal circuits of the ant's brain. Here, we test whether the rotation of skylight polarization during LWs is the necessary cue to induce learning-dependent rewiring in synaptic circuits in high-order integration centres of the ant brain. Our results show that structural neuronal changes in the central complex and mushroom bodies are triggered only when LWs were performed under a rotating skylight polarization pattern. By contrast, when naive ants did not perform LWs, but were exposed to skylight cues, plasticity was restricted to light spectrum-dependent changes in synaptic complexes of the lateral complex. The results identify sky-compass cues triggering learning-dependent versus -independent neuronal plasticity during the behavioural transition from interior workers to outdoor foragers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Grob
- Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biocentre, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Oliver Holland Cunz
- Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biocentre, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Kornelia Grübel
- Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biocentre, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Keram Pfeiffer
- Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biocentre, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Rössler
- Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biocentre, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Pauline N. Fleischmann
- Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biocentre, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
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2
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Gkanias E, Risse B, Mangan M, Webb B. From skylight input to behavioural output: A computational model of the insect polarised light compass. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1007123. [PMID: 31318859 PMCID: PMC6638774 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Many insects navigate by integrating the distances and directions travelled on an outward path, allowing direct return to the starting point. Fundamental to the reliability of this process is the use of a neural compass based on external celestial cues. Here we examine how such compass information could be reliably computed by the insect brain, given realistic constraints on the sky polarisation pattern and the insect eye sensor array. By processing the degree of polarisation in different directions for different parts of the sky, our model can directly estimate the solar azimuth and also infer the confidence of the estimate. We introduce a method to correct for tilting of the sensor array, as might be caused by travel over uneven terrain. We also show that the confidence can be used to approximate the change in sun position over time, allowing the compass to remain fixed with respect to 'true north' during long excursions. We demonstrate that the compass is robust to disturbances and can be effectively used as input to an existing neural model of insect path integration. We discuss the plausibility of our model to be mapped to known neural circuits, and to be implemented for robot navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evripidis Gkanias
- School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Benjamin Risse
- Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Michael Mangan
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Barbara Webb
- School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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3
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Silva NFDS, Fowler-Finn K, Ribeiro Mortara S, Hirata Willemart R. A Neotropical armored harvestman (Arachnida, Opiliones) uses proprioception and vision for homing. BEHAVIOUR 2018. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Animals use external and/or internal cues to navigate and can show flexibility in cue use if one type of cue is unavailable. We studied the homing ability of the harvestman Heteromitobates discolor (Arachnida, Opiliones) by moving egg-guarding females from their clutches. We tested the importance of vision, proprioception, and olfaction. We predicted that homing would be negatively affected in the absence of these cues, with success being measured by the return of females to their clutches. We restricted proprioception by not allowing females to walk, removed vision by painting the eyes, and removed the odours by removing the clutch and cleaning its surroundings. We found that vision is important for homing, and in the absence of visual cues, proprioception is important. Finally, we found increased homing when eggs were present, and that the time of the day also influenced homing. We highlight vision as a previously overlooked sensory modality in Opiliones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norton Felipe dos Santos Silva
- aLaboratório de Ecologia Sensorial e Comportamento de Artrópodes, Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Arlindo Béttio 1000, Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, SP 03828-000, Brazil
- bPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Campus Diadema, Rua Professor Artur Riedel. 275, Jardim Eldorado, Diadema, SP 09972-270, Brazil
| | - Kasey Fowler-Finn
- cDepartment of Biology, Saint Louis University, 3507 Laclede Avenue, Saint Louis, MO, USA
| | - Sara Ribeiro Mortara
- dPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 321, Travessa 14, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Hirata Willemart
- aLaboratório de Ecologia Sensorial e Comportamento de Artrópodes, Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Arlindo Béttio 1000, Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, SP 03828-000, Brazil
- bPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Campus Diadema, Rua Professor Artur Riedel. 275, Jardim Eldorado, Diadema, SP 09972-270, Brazil
- ePrograma de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 101, Travessa 14, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
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4
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Use of the sun as a heading indicator when caching and recovering in a wild rodent. Sci Rep 2016; 6:32570. [PMID: 27580797 PMCID: PMC5007651 DOI: 10.1038/srep32570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Accepted: 08/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A number of diurnal species have been shown to use directional information from the sun to orientate. The use of the sun in this way has been suggested to occur in either a time-dependent (relying on specific positional information) or a time-compensated manner (a compass that adjusts itself over time with the shifts in the sun’s position). However, some interplay may occur between the two where a species could also use the sun in a time-limited way, whereby animals acquire certain information about the change of position, but do not show full compensational abilities. We tested whether Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris) use the sun as an orientation marker to provide information for caching and recovery. This species is a social sciurid that inhabits arid, sparsely vegetated habitats in Southern Africa, where the sun is nearly always visible during the diurnal period. Due to the lack of obvious landmarks, we predicted that they might use positional cues from the sun in the sky as a reference point when caching and recovering food items. We provide evidence that Cape ground squirrels use information from the sun’s position while caching and reuse this information in a time-limited way when recovering these caches.
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Schultheiss P, Wystrach A, Schwarz S, Tack A, Delor J, Nooten SS, Bibost AL, Freas CA, Cheng K. Crucial role of ultraviolet light for desert ants in determining direction from the terrestrial panorama. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.02.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Chang LH, Barron AB, Cheng K. Effects of the juvenile hormone analogue methoprene on rate of behavioural development, foraging performance and navigation in honey bees (Apis mellifera). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 218:1715-24. [PMID: 25883376 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.119198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2015] [Accepted: 04/08/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Worker honey bees change roles as they age as part of a hormonally regulated process of behavioural development that ends with a specialised foraging phase. The rate of behavioural development is highly plastic and responsive to changes in colony condition such that forager losses, disease or nutritional stresses accelerate behavioural development and cause an early onset of foraging in workers. It is not clear to what degree the behavioural development of workers can be accelerated without there being a cost in terms of reduced foraging performance. Here, we compared the foraging performance of bees induced to accelerate their behavioural development by treatment with the juvenile hormone analogue methoprene with that of controls that developed at a normal rate. Methoprene treatment accelerated the onset of both flight and foraging behaviour in workers, but it also reduced foraging span, the total time spent foraging and the number of completed foraging trips. Methoprene treatment did not alter performance in a short-range navigation task, however. These data indicate a limitation to the physiological plasticity of bees, and a trade off between forager performance and the speed at which bees begin foraging. Chronic stressors will be expected to reduce the mean age of the foraging force, and therefore also reduce the efficiency of the foraging force. This interaction may explain why honey bee colonies react to sustained stressors with non-linear population decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lun-Hsien Chang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Ken Cheng
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
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The memory structure of navigation in honeybees. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2015; 201:547-61. [PMID: 25707351 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-015-0987-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2014] [Revised: 02/05/2015] [Accepted: 02/09/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The analytical approach to navigation studies aims to identify elementary sensory motor processes that guide an animal to a remote site. This approach will be used here to characterize components of navigation in a flying insect, the honeybee. However, navigation studies need to go beyond an analysis of behavioral routines to come up with a synthesis. We will defend the concept of an active memory structure guiding navigation in bees that is best described as a mental or cognitive map. In our opinion, spatial/temporal relations of landmarks are stored in a mental map in such a way that behavioral routines such as expectation and planning, as indicated by shortcutting, are possible. We view the mental map of animals including the honeybee as an "action memory of spatial relations" rather than as a sensory representation as we humans experience it by introspection. Two components characterize the mental map, the relational representation of landmarks and the meaning of locations to the animal. As yet, there is little data to suggest that bees assign meaning to the experienced locations. To explore this possibility, further studies will be needed, whereby honeybees provide a unique model to address this question.
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8
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Path integration, views, search, and matched filters: the contributions of Rüdiger Wehner to the study of orientation and navigation. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2015; 201:517-32. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-015-0984-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2014] [Revised: 01/11/2015] [Accepted: 01/27/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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9
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Evangelista C, Kraft P, Dacke M, Labhart T, Srinivasan MV. Honeybee navigation: critically examining the role of the polarization compass. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2014; 369:20130037. [PMID: 24395964 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Although it is widely accepted that honeybees use the polarized-light pattern of the sky as a compass for navigation, there is little direct evidence that this information is actually sensed during flight. Here, we ask whether flying bees can obtain compass cues derived purely from polarized light, and communicate this information to their nest-mates through the 'waggle dance'. Bees, from an observation hive with vertically oriented honeycombs, were trained to fly to a food source at the end of a tunnel, which provided overhead illumination that was polarized either parallel to the axis of the tunnel, or perpendicular to it. When the illumination was transversely polarized, bees danced in a predominantly vertical direction with waggles occurring equally frequently in the upward or the downward direction. They were thus using the polarized-light information to signal the two possible directions in which they could have flown in natural outdoor flight: either directly towards the sun, or directly away from it. When the illumination was axially polarized, the bees danced in a predominantly horizontal direction with waggles directed either to the left or the right, indicating that they could have flown in an azimuthal direction that was 90° to the right or to the left of the sun, respectively. When the first half of the tunnel provided axial illumination and the second half transverse illumination, bees danced along all of the four principal diagonal directions, which represent four equally likely locations of the food source based on the polarized-light information that they had acquired during their journey. We conclude that flying bees are capable of obtaining and signalling compass information that is derived purely from polarized light. Furthermore, they deal with the directional ambiguity that is inherent in polarized light by signalling all of the possible locations of the food source in their dances, thus maximizing the chances of recruitment to it.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Evangelista
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, , St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia
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10
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Kemfort JR, Towne WF. Honeybees can learn the relationship between the solar ephemeris and a newly experienced landscape: a confirmation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 216:3767-71. [PMID: 23868835 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.086058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Honeybees learn the spatial relationship between the sun's pattern of movement and the landscape immediately surrounding their nest, which allows bees to locate the sun under overcast skies by reference to the landscape alone. Surprisingly, when bees have been transplanted from their natal landscape to a rotated twin landscape - such as from one treeline to a similar but differently oriented treeline - they fail to learn the relationship between the sun and the second landscape. This raises the question of whether bees can ever learn the relationship between the sun's pattern of movement and a landscape other than their natal one. Here we confirm, with new and necessary controls, that bees can indeed learn the relationship between the sun's pattern of movement and a second (that is, non-natal) landscape, if the second landscape is panoramically different from the bees' natal site. We transplanted bees from their natal site to a panoramically different second site and, 3 days later, tested the bees' knowledge of the relationship between the sun and the second landscape. The test involved observing the bees' communicative dances under overcast skies at a third site that was a rotated twin of the second. These bees oriented their dances using a memory of the sun's course in relation to the second landscape, indicating that they had learned this relationship. Meanwhile, control bees transplanted directly from the natal site to the third site, skipping the second, danced differently, confirming the importance of the experimental bees' experience at the second site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan R Kemfort
- Department of Biology, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA 19530, USA
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11
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Dovey KM, Kemfort JR, Towne WF. The depth of the honeybee's backup sun-compass systems. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 216:2129-39. [PMID: 23430992 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.084160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Honeybees have at least three compass mechanisms: a magnetic compass; a celestial or sun compass, based on the daily rotation of the sun and sun-linked skylight patterns; and a backup celestial compass based on a memory of the sun's movements over time in relation to the landscape. The interactions of these compass systems have yet to be fully elucidated, but the celestial compass is primary in most contexts, the magnetic compass is a backup in certain contexts, and the bees' memory of the sun's course in relation to the landscape is a backup system for cloudy days. Here we ask whether bees have any further compass systems, for example a memory of the sun's movements over time in relation to the magnetic field. To test this, we challenged bees to locate the sun when their known celestial compass systems were unavailable, that is, under overcast skies in unfamiliar landscapes. We measured the bees' knowledge of the sun's location by observing their waggle dances, by which foragers indicate the directions toward food sources in relation to the sun's compass bearing. We found that bees have no celestial compass systems beyond those already known: under overcast skies in unfamiliar landscapes, bees attempt to use their landscape-based backup system to locate the sun, matching the landscapes or skylines at the test sites with those at their natal sites as best they can, even if the matches are poor and yield weak or inconsistent orientation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katelyn M Dovey
- Department of Biology, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA 19530, USA
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12
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Palikij J, Ebert E, Preston M, McBride A, Jander R. Evidence for the honeybee's place knowledge in the vicinity of the hive. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2012; 58:1289-1298. [PMID: 22796223 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2012.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2011] [Revised: 06/28/2012] [Accepted: 07/02/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Upon leaving the nest for the first time, honeybees employ a tripartite orientation/exploration system to gain the requisite knowledge to return to their hive after foraging. Focal exploration comes first- the departing bee turns around to face the return target and oscillates in a lateral flight pattern of increasing amplitude and distance. Thereafter, for the peripheral exploration, the forward flying bee circles the return-goal area with expanding and alternating clockwise and counterclockwise arcs. After this two- part proximal exploration follows distal exploration, the bee flies straight towards her potential distal goal. For the return path, supported by the preceding exploratory learning, the return navigational performance is expected to reflect the three exploratory parts in reverse order. Previously only two performance parts have been experimentally identified: focal navigation and distal navigation. Here we discovered peripheral navigation as being distinct from focal and distal navigation. Like focal navigation, yet unlike distal navigation, peripheral navigation is invariably triggered by local place recognition. Whereas focal navigation (orientation) is close to unidirectional, peripheral navigation makes use of multiple goal-vector knowledge. We term the area in question the Peripheral Correction Area because within it peripheral navigation is triggered, which in turn is capable of correcting errors that accumulated during a preceding distal dead-reckoning based flight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Palikij
- University of Kansas, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 2041 Haworth Hall, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-7534, USA
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Visual control of navigation in insects and its relevance for robotics. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2012; 21:535-43. [PMID: 21689925 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2011.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2011] [Revised: 05/02/2011] [Accepted: 05/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Flying insects display remarkable agility, despite their diminutive eyes and brains. This review describes our growing understanding of how these creatures use visual information to stabilize flight, avoid collisions with objects, regulate flight speed, detect and intercept other flying insects such as mates or prey, navigate to a distant food source, and orchestrate flawless landings. It also outlines the ways in which these insights are now being used to develop novel, biologically inspired strategies for the guidance of autonomous, airborne vehicles.
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Abstract
Summary
Animals have needed to find their way about almost since a free-living life style evolved. Particularly, if an animal has a home – shelter or nesting site – true navigation becomes necessary to shuttle between this home and areas of other activities, such as feeding. As old as navigation is in the animal kingdom, as diverse are its mechanisms and implementations, depending on an organism's ecology and its endowment with sensors and actuators. The use of landmarks for piloting or the use of trail pheromones for route following have been examined in great detail and in a variety of animal species. The same is true for senses of direction – the compasses for navigation – and the construction of vectors for navigation from compass and distance cues. The measurement of distance itself – odometry – has received much less attention. The present review addresses some recent progress in the understanding of odometers in invertebrates, after outlining general principles of navigation to put odometry in its proper context. Finally, a number of refinements that increase navigation accuracy and safety are addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harald Wolf
- Institute for Advanced Study Berlin, Wallotstr. 19, D-14193 Berlin, Germany
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15
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Lehmann M, Gustav D, Galizia CG. The early bee catches the flower - circadian rhythmicity influences learning performance in honey bees, Apis mellifera. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2010; 65:205-215. [PMID: 21350590 PMCID: PMC3022154 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-1026-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2010] [Revised: 07/12/2010] [Accepted: 07/14/2010] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Circadian rhythmicity plays an important role for many aspects of honey bees’ lives. However, the question whether it also affects learning and memory remained unanswered. To address this question, we studied the effect of circadian timing on olfactory learning and memory in honey bees Apis mellifera using the olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex paradigm. Bees were differentially conditioned to odours and tested for their odour learning at four different “Zeitgeber” time points. We show that learning behaviour is influenced by circadian timing. Honey bees perform best in the morning compared to the other times of day. Additionally, we found influences of the light condition bees were trained at on the olfactory learning. This circadian-mediated learning is independent from feeding times bees were entrained to, indicating an inherited and not acquired mechanism. We hypothesise that a co-evolutionary mechanism between the honey bee as a pollinator and plants might be the driving force for the evolution of the time-dependent learning abilities of bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Lehmann
- Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
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16
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Towne WF, Moscrip H. The connection between landscapes and the solar ephemeris in honeybees. J Exp Biol 2008; 211:3729-36. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.022970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Honeybees connect the sun's daily pattern of azimuthal movement to some aspect of the landscape around their nests. In the present study, we ask what aspect of the landscape is used in this context – the entire landscape panorama or only sectors seen along familiar flight routes. Previous studies of the solar ephemeris memory in bees have generally used bees that had experience flying a specific route, usually along a treeline, to a feeder. When such bees were moved to a differently oriented treeline on overcast days,the bees oriented their communicative dances as if they were still at the first treeline, based on a memory of the sun's course in relation to some aspect of the site, possibly the familiar route along the treeline or possibly the entire landscape or skyline panorama. Our results show that bees lacking specific flight-route training can nonetheless recall the sun's compass bearing relative to novel flight routes in their natal landscape. Specifically, we moved a hive from one landscape to a differently oriented twin landscape, and only after transplantation under overcast skies did we move a feeder away from the hive. These bees nonetheless danced accurately by memory of the sun's course in relation to their natal landscape. The bees'knowledge of the relationship between the sun and landscape, therefore, is not limited to familiar flight routes and so may encompass, at least functionally,the entire panorama. Further evidence suggests that the skyline in particular may be the bees' preferred reference in this context.
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Affiliation(s)
- William F. Towne
- Department of Biology, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA 19530, USA
| | - Heather Moscrip
- Department of Biology, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA 19530, USA
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