Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marilia Freire, Antonio Bollig, Markus Knaden
Summary: The elements in the drawings are recyclable and reusable materials, which can be used by artificial intelligence to generate new drawing designs.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Abbas Fathtabar, Ataollah Ebrahimzadeh, Javad Kazemitabar
Summary: In recent decades, numerous algorithms have been proposed to solve optimization problems, some of which are inspired by nature. The collective behavior of ants, which demonstrates intelligence in nature, has served as a source of inspiration for optimization algorithms. Building upon the concept of path integration, this paper presents a new optimization algorithm, Ant Path Integration, by modeling the swarm intelligence of desert ants in finding their return path to the nest.
NEURAL COMPUTING & APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Wolfgang Roessler
Summary: This article provides a brief overview of the skills of Cataglyphis desert ants in multisensory learning and neuronal plasticity, focusing on their transition from the dark nest interior to performing first foraging trips. It highlights desert ants as experimental models for studying the neuronal mechanisms underlying behavioral development into successful navigators.
TRENDS IN NEUROSCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Adi Bar, Tomer Gilad, Doaa Massad, Asaph Ferber, Dan Ben-Ezra, Daniela Segal, Susanne Foitzik, Inon Scharf
Summary: Social animals, like ants, display a range of cooperative behaviors, including rescuing trapped group members. In this study, researchers investigated how ants prioritize rescues and whether they prioritize feeding over rescuing. They found that ants invested more time in rescuing pupae than adult workers and used different rescue behaviors based on the individual being rescued. Interestingly, ants recognized trapped individuals chemically rather than by appearance or behavior. However, foraging took precedence over rescuing, likely due to a smaller number of specialized rescue workers.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Alexandre Kuhn, Serge Aron, Olivier J. Hardy
Summary: Reproductive strategies are complex and diverse, with populations exhibiting various systems between strict sexuality and strict clonality. A mathematical model was developed to predict genetic diversity in mixed sexual-automictic populations, showing the impact of heterozygosity loss rate during automixis on the genetic structure. The study also suggested the presence of cryptic sexual reproduction in a hybridogenetic ant species, supported by simulations indicating up to 2% sexual reproduction in natural populations.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Pauline N. Fleischmann, Robin Grob, Wolfgang Roessler
Summary: Calaglyphis desert ants calibrate their compass systems and learn visual panoramas at the beginning of foraging careers, using structured initial learning walks and re-learning walks. Foragers and novices show differences in compass cues and behaviors, but remain magnetosensitive in cue conflict situations under manipulated panorama conditions.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Robin Grob, Clara Tritscher, Kornelia Gruebel, Christian Stigloher, Claudia Groh, Pauline N. Fleischmann, Wolfgang Roessler
Summary: The study found that the Johnston's organ (JO) in the desert ant Cataglyphis workers has a similar anatomy and central projection pattern to bees and fruit flies, exhibiting a multisensory nature that likely serves synchronization and calibration of different sensory modalities during navigation ontogeny.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Chen Hu, Xianghua Xie, Lin Wu
Summary: This paper proposes a novel approach for face reenactment using generative landmark coordinates. The approach includes a conditional generative adversarial network to estimate reenacted landmark coordinates and a style transferal module to enhance the realism of face images. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the method can produce more realistic reenacted face images.
IMAGE AND VISION COMPUTING
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Leo Clement, Sebastian Schwarz, Antoine Wystrach
Summary: We found that visually navigating ants display regular lateral oscillations coupled with variations of forward speed to optimize distance covered and scan left and right directions. This pattern of movement is produced endogenously and conserved across different ant species. The amplitude of the oscillations can be modulated by visual cues to adjust exploration/exploitation balance.
Article
Biology
Camille Mirmiran, Maia Fraser, Leonard Maler
Summary: This study analyzed the behavior of pulse-type gymnotiform weakly electric fish during foraging in a dark arena and found that after spatial learning, the fish exhibited smoother trajectories and head turns, but still chose variable curved paths instead of a direct route to the food.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Roman Goulard, Cornelia Buehlmann, Jeremy E. Niven, Paul Graham, Barbara Webb
Summary: This study presents a neural pathway model for how insects perform landmark guided behaviors using their internal compass, and discusses the mechanisms of flexible guidance behaviors and how these mechanisms convert reward signals to steering signals. Through simulations, the consistency of the model with biological observations is highlighted.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Thomas S. Collett, Andrew O. Philippides
Summary: Wood ants can learn routes using magnetic directional cues, but their performance can be affected by competing directional cues. Additionally, there is evidence that ants develop magnetically directed home and food vectors based on path integration. However, ants perform worse than honeybees in utilizing magnetic information contextually.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Stanley Heinze
Summary: Research shows that fruit flies can track multiple food patches simultaneously, using the center of gravity of all food sites as a reference point for their path integrator.
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Phillip M. Newman, Timothy P. McNamara
Summary: Recent studies have shown that optimal integration of multiple landmark cues depends on task difficulty, with the presence of multiple landmarks eliciting an additional latent cue when estimating locations from a ground-level perspective, but not from an aerial perspective.
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG
(2022)
Article
Biology
Felicien Degueldre, Serge Aron
Summary: Sperm competition is positively correlated with sperm production and viability but unrelated to sperm DNA integrity in Cataglyphis desert ants, highlighting the important role of sperm competition in shaping reproductive performance in eusocial Hymenoptera.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)