» Articles » PMID: 32902692

A Dung Beetle That Path Integrates Without the Use of Landmarks

Overview
Journal Anim Cogn
Publisher Springer
Date 2020 Sep 9
PMID 32902692
Citations 8
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Unusual amongst dung beetles, Scarabaeus galenus digs a burrow that it provisions by making repeated trips to a nearby dung pile. Even more remarkable is that these beetles return home moving backwards, with a pellet of dung between their hind legs. Here, we explore the strategy that S. galenus uses to find its way home. We find that, like many other insects, they use path integration to calculate the direction and distance to their home. If they fail to locate their burrow, the beetles initiate a distinct looping search behaviour that starts with a characteristic sharp turn, we have called a 'turning point'. When homing beetles are passively displaced or transferred to an unfamiliar environment, they initiate a search at a point very close to the location of their fictive burrow-that is, a spot at the same relative distance and direction from the pick-up point as the original burrow. Unlike other insects, S. galenus do not appear to supplement estimates of the burrow location with landmark information. Thus, S. galenus represents a rare case of a consistently backward-homing animal that does not use landmarks to augment its path integration strategy.

Citing Articles

Nature's All-in-One: Multitasking Robots Inspired by Dung Beetles.

Leung B, Gorb S, Manoonpong P Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024; 11(47):e2408080.

PMID: 39475045 PMC: 11653611. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202408080.


Route retracing: way pointing and multiple vector memories in trail-following ants.

Freas C, Spetch M J Exp Biol. 2023; 227(2).

PMID: 38126715 PMC: 10906666. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246695.


Temporal effects of sugar intake on fly local search and honey bee dance behaviour.

Shakeel M, Brockmann A J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2023; 210(3):415-429.

PMID: 37624392 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01670-6.


Displacement experiments provide evidence for path integration in Drosophila.

Titova A, Kau B, Tibor S, Mach J, Vo-Doan T, Wittlinger M J Exp Biol. 2023; 226(12).

PMID: 37226998 PMC: 10281513. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245289.


Humans, fish, spiders and bees inherited working memory and attention from their last common ancestor.

Earl B Front Psychol. 2023; 13:937712.

PMID: 36814887 PMC: 9939904. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937712.


References
1.
Graham P, Cheng K . Ants use the panoramic skyline as a visual cue during navigation. Curr Biol. 2009; 19(20):R935-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.08.015. View

2.
Fleischmann P, Grob R, Wehner R, Rossler W . Species-specific differences in the fine structure of learning walk elements in ants. J Exp Biol. 2017; 220(Pt 13):2426-2435. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.158147. View

3.
Steck K, Hansson B, Knaden M . Desert ants benefit from combining visual and olfactory landmarks. J Exp Biol. 2011; 214(Pt 8):1307-12. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.053579. View

4.
Jayatilaka P, Murray T, Narendra A, Zeil J . The choreography of learning walks in the Australian jack jumper ant . J Exp Biol. 2018; 221(Pt 20). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.185306. View

5.
Buehlmann C, D Fernandes A, Graham P . The interaction of path integration and terrestrial visual cues in navigating desert ants: what can we learn from path characteristics?. J Exp Biol. 2017; 221(Pt 1). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.167304. View