Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Volume 218, Issue 6, Pages 819-823Publisher
COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.065409
Keywords
Ant; Navigation; Route guidance; Visual guidance
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Funding
- BBSRC [BB/I014543/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/I014543/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Visual navigation is a critical behaviour for many animals, and it has been particularly well studied in ants. Decades of ant navigation research have uncovered many ways in which efficient navigation can be implemented in small brains. For example, ants show us how visual information can drive navigation via procedural rather than map-like instructions. Two recent behavioural observations highlight interesting adaptive ways in which ants implement visual guidance. Firstly, it has been shown that the systematic nest searches of ants can be biased by recent experience of familiar scenes. Secondly, ants have been observed to show temporary periods of confusion when asked to repeat a route segment, even if that route segment is very familiar. Taken together, these results indicate that the navigational decisions of ants take into account their recent experiences as well as the currently perceived environment.
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