We took panoramic snapshots in outdoor scenes at regular intervals two- or three-dimensional grids covering 1 m2 m3 and determined how the root mean square pixel differences between each of images a reference image acquired one locations grid develop over distance from position. then asked whether position can be pinpointed random starting by moving imaging device such way that relative to are minimized. find on time scales minutes hours, accurately defined clear, sharp minimum smooth (3D)...

Ants are efficient navigators, guided by path integration and visual landmarks. Path is the primary strategy in landmark-poor habitats, but landmarks readily used when available. The landmark panorama provides reliable information about heading direction, routes specific location. Visual memories for guidance often acquired along or near to significant places. Over what area can such locally provide reaching a place? This question unusually approachable solitary foraging Australian jack...

Navigating animals are known to use a number of celestial and terrestrial compass cues that allow them determine control their direction travel. Which the dominate appears depend on salience. Here we show night-active bull ants attend both pattern polarised skylight landmark panorama in familiar habitat. When two directional conflict, choose compromise direction. However, guidance be primary mechanism navigation used by forager ants, with those heading having greatest influence navigation....

ABSTRACT Bees and wasps perform systematic flight manoevres when they leave their nest or a foodplace, during which acquire update visual memory of the goal location. In typical learning flight, insect backs away from in series arcs that are roughly centred on goal. The mean rate turning is rather constant tends to balance angular speed at arc described. As result, views relatively fixed retinal positions its left right field, depending direction. general direction transition one segment...

The wing-scale morphologies of the pierid butterflies Pieris rapae (small white) and Delias nigrina (common jezabel), heliconine Heliconius melpomene are compared related to wing-reflectance spectra. Light scattering at wing scales determines reflectance, but when contain an absorbing pigment, reflectance is suppressed in absorption wavelength range pigment. white areas P. rapae, where studded with beads, considerably higher than that H. melpomene, which has lacking beads. beads presumably...

Animals relocating a target corner in rectangular space often make rotational errors searching not only at the but also diagonally opposite corner. The authors tested whether view-based navigation can explain by recording panoramic snapshots regularly spaced locations box. calculated global image difference between each location and recorded 1 of corners, thus creating 2-dimensional map differences. found most pronounced minima differences corner--conditions favoring errors. confirmed these...

Mating signals are often directed at numerous senses and provide information about species identity, gender, receptiveness, individual identity mate quality. Given the diversity of colourful body patterns in invertebrates, surprisingly few studies have examined role these visual recognition. Here, we demonstrate use claw coloration as a recognition signal fiddler crab ( Uca mjoebergi ). Furthermore, show that distinct carapace colour capricornis enable males to discriminate between their...

Animals avoid temperatures that constrain foraging by restricting activity to specific times of the day or year. However, because temperature alters availability food resources, it is difficult separate temperature-dependent effects on and occupation temporal niches. By studying two congeneric, sympatric Myrmecia ants we isolated effect investigated whether affects schedules causes be active at distinct We monitored identified ants' tolerance in laboratory determining (1) critical thermal...

Two recent studies testing navigation of rats in swimming pools have posed problems for any account the use purely geometric properties space (M. Graham, M. A. Good, McGregor, & J. Pearce, 2006; P. Jones, 2004). The authors simulated 1 experiment from each study a virtual reality environment to test whether experimental results could be explained by view-based navigation. recorded reference image at target location and then determined global panoramic differences between this images taken...

We caught solitary foragers of the Australian Jack Jumper ant, Myrmecia croslandi , and released them in three compass directions at distances 10 15 m from nest locations they have never been before. recorded head orientation movements ants within a radius 20 cm release point and, some cases, tracked their subsequent paths with differential GPS. find that upon surfacing transport vials onto platform, most move into home direction after looking around briefly. The use systematic scanning...

Sensory drive theory contends that signaling systems should evolve to optimize transmission between senders and intended receivers, while minimizing visibility eavesdroppers where possible. In visual communication systems, the high directionality afforded by iridescent coloration presents underappreciated avenues for mediating this trade-off. This hypothesis predicts functional links signal design presentation such conspicuousness is maximized only under ecologically relevant settings and/or...

We provide a detailed analysis of the learning walks performed by Myrmecia croslandi ants at nest during which they acquire visual information on its location. Most 12 individually marked naïve took place in morning with narrow time window separating first two walks, most often occurred same day. Naïve between 2 to 7 over up 4 consecutive days before heading out forage. On subsequent tend explore area around new compass directions. During move along arcs while performing oscillating scanning...

Highlights•Backward-walking ants rely on celestial but not terrestrial cue memories•Correction of direction based cues occurs after peeking forward•The retrieved can be transferred into a compass frame reference•Ants decouple their travel from body orientationSummaryAnts navigate over long distances between nest and food sites using visual [1, 2]. Recent studies show that this capacity is undiminished when walking backward while dragging heavy item [3–5]. This challenges the idea use...