Data for research article 'Multimodal influences on learning walks in desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis)'

Data for paper published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A (published June 2020).

Data contains paths from recorded ants during the experiments. Files can be opened with TextEdit (on a Macintosh) or WordPad (Windows).
For details please see the README.txt and view the experiment methods in the published paper.

Abstract:
Ants are excellent navigators using multimodal information for navigation. To accurately localise the nest at the end of a foraging journey, visual cues, wind direction and also olfactory cues need to be learnt. Learning walks are performed at the start of an ant’s foraging career or when the appearance of the nest surrounding has changed. We investigated here whether the structure of such learning walks in the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis takes into account wind direction in conjunction with the learning of new visual information. Ants learnt to travel back and forth between their nest and a feeder, and we then introduced a black cylinder near their nest to induce learning walks in regular foragers. By doing this across days with different wind directions, we were able to probe how ants balance different sensory modalities. We found that (1) the ants’ outwards headings are influenced by the wind direction with their routes deflected such that they will arrive downwind of their target, (2) a novel object along the route induces learning walks in experienced ants and (3) the structure of learning walks is shaped by the wind direction rather than the position of the visual cue.

本数据集对应2020年6月发表于《比较生理学A辑》（Journal of Comparative Physiology A）的学术论文。
数据包含实验过程中记录的蚂蚁行进路径，相关文件可通过Macintosh系统的TextEdit或Windows系统的WordPad打开。
如需了解详细信息，请参阅README.txt文件，并查阅已发表论文中的实验方法。

摘要：蚂蚁是卓越的导航者，依靠多模态信息完成导航任务。为在觅食旅程结束时精准定位巢穴，蚂蚁需学习视觉线索、风向及嗅觉线索。学习行走（learning walks）通常发生于蚂蚁觅食生涯初期，或是巢穴周边环境发生变化之时。本研究旨在探究沙漠箭蚁（Cataglyphis fortis）的学习行走结构，是否会结合风向信息来学习新的视觉信息。实验中，蚂蚁先学会在巢穴与喂食器之间往返移动，随后研究人员在巢穴附近放置一个黑色圆柱体，以诱导常规觅食的蚂蚁产生学习行走行为。通过在不同风向的天数开展实验，我们得以探究蚂蚁如何平衡不同的感官模态。研究结果表明：（1）蚂蚁的外出航向会受风向影响，其行进路线会发生偏转，最终抵达目标的下风区域；（2）路线中的新奇物体可诱导经验丰富的蚂蚁产生学习行走行为；（3）学习行走的结构由风向决定，而非视觉线索的位置。