Smells like home: Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, use olfactory landmarks to pinpoint the nest.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cataglyphis fortis ants forage individually for dead arthropods in the inhospitable salt-pans of Tunisia. Locating the inconspicuous nest after a foraging run of more than 100 meters demands a remarkable orientation capability. As a result of high temperatures and the unpredictable distribution of food, Cataglyphis ants do not lay pheromone trails. Instead, path integration is the fundamental system of long-distance navigation. This system constantly informs a foraging ant about its position relative to the nest. In addition, the ants rely on visual landmarks as geocentric navigational cues to finally pinpoint the nest entrance.

Results

Apart from the visual cues within the ants' habitat, we found potential olfactory landmark information with different odour blend

SUBMITTER: Steck K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2651142 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature