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Anim Cogn

Title:		Odometry and backtracking: social and individual navigation in group foraging desert harvester ants (Veromessor pergandei)
Author(s):		Plowes N; Du Y; Congdon JV; Bulitko V; Soares ES; Spetch ML;
Address:		"Life Sciences Department, Mesa Community College, 1833 West Southern Avenue, Mesa, 85202, USA. Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, BSP-217, T6G 2E9, Edmonton, Canada. Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta, T6G 2E8, Edmonton, Canada. Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, BSP-217, T6G 2E9, Edmonton, Canada. mspetch@ualberta.ca"
Journal Title:		Anim Cogn
Year:		2019
Volume:		20181017
Issue:		1
Page Number:		35 - 47
DOI:		10.1007/s10071-018-1218-7
ISSN/ISBN:		1435-9456 (Electronic) 1435-9448 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Veromessor pergandei harvester ants are group foragers which use a combination of social cues (pheromone-marked columns) and individual cues (e.g., self-generated movement, visual cues) when exploring foraging areas for resources. Upon finding food, individuals navigate back to the column, which guides their return to the nest. The direction and length of columns change between foraging bouts, and hence the end of the column (unlike the nest location) is non-stationary. We conducted displacement tests on returning foragers and present three novel findings. First, returning individual ants accurately estimate their distance from the foraging area to the end of the column. Second, ants that reached the column but only traveled a small proportion of the distance to the nest either show homeward or random orientation; random orientation was seen when the column was long. Third, ants that have traveled most of the way back to the nest along the column show backtracking when they are displaced-orienting in the direction opposite to the nest-similar to Australian desert ants Melophorus bagoti. This commonality suggests that some navigation strategies are general across species, and are utilized by ants that navigate individually or socially"
Keywords:		Animals Ants/*physiology Cues *Homing Behavior Pheromones Social Behavior *Spatial Navigation Ants Backtracking Column foraging Navigation Odometer Veromessor pergandei;
Notes:		"MedlinePlowes, Nicola Du, Yu Congdon, Jenna V Bulitko, Vadim Soares, Everton S Spetch, Marcia L eng 04133/Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada/ Germany 2018/10/20 Anim Cogn. 2019 Jan; 22(1):35-47. doi: 10.1007/s10071-018-1218-7. Epub 2018 Oct 17"