Desert ants use foraging distance to adapt the nest search to the uncertainty of the path integrator
Desert ants use foraging distance to adapt the nest search to the uncertainty of the path integrator
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DOI：
10.1093/beheco/arp197
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发表时间：
2010-03-01
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Wehner, Ruediger
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Merkle, Tobias;Wehner, Ruediger
路径整合使沙漠蚂蚁能够沿着一条直接的路径返回巢穴，但路径整合的机制容易出错，蚂蚁经常会错过巢穴入口的确切位置，从而进行系统的搜索行为。这种搜索行为产生的模式非常灵活，使蚂蚁能够考虑在觅食和归巢过程中积累的错误。在这里，我们评估参数的沙漠蚂蚁Cataglyphis fortis使用，以适应其系统的搜索行为的不确定性，其路径积分器时，剥夺了额外的外部线索。我们比较了几组蚂蚁，它们在巢穴和食物源之间的距离相同，但觅食行程的总长度不同。我们的研究结果表明，蚂蚁的搜索密度分布的宽度取决于蚂蚁冒险离开巢穴的距离，也就是说，家向量的长度，但不是在曲折的出站路径，也就是说，在觅食的步骤数。这个距离值很容易通过路径积分器获得，显然足以校准蚂蚁的系统搜索模式。
Path integration enables desert ants to return to their nest on a direct path. However, the mechanism of path integration is error prone and the ants often miss the exact position of the nest entrance in which case they engage in systematic search behavior. The pattern produced by this search behavior is very flexible and enables the ants to take the errors into account that have been accumulated during foraging and homing. Here, we assess which parameter the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis uses to adapt its systematic search behavior to the uncertainty of its path integrator when deprived of additional external cues. We compared groups of ants that had covered the same distance between their nest and a food source but differed in the overall length of their foraging excursions. Our results show that the width of the ants' search density profile depends on the distance the ants have ventured out from the nest, that is, the length of the home vector, but not on the tortuousness of their outbound path, that is, the number of steps made during foraging. This distance value is readily available through the path integrator and obviously sufficient to calibrate the ants' systematic search patterns.