Path integration in desert ants controls aggressiveness.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 15232099.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Cataglyphis ants of the Sahara Desert are extremely aggressive toward members of other colonies if they are close to their nest entrance, but not once they have embarked on their wide foraging journeys. We show that the ants reach the same level of aggressiveness when they are far from their actual nesting site but their path integrator--their main navigational toolkit--tells them that they are close, indicating a role for the animal's path integrator beyond navigation.
Medical subject headings
- Ants