Cataglyphis ants have a polarity-sensitive magnetic compass.

Spatial orientation based on the geomagnetic field (GMF) is a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom, predominantly observed in long-distance migrating birds, sea turtles, lobsters, and Lepidoptera. Although magnetoreception has been studied intensively, the mechanism remains elusive. A crucial question for a mechanistic understanding of magnetoreception is whether animals rely on inclination or polarity-based magnetic information.

Importance of magnetic information for neuronal plasticity in desert ants.

Many animal species rely on the Earth's magnetic field during navigation, but where in the brain magnetic information is processed is still unknown. To unravel this, we manipulated the natural magnetic field at the nest entrance of desert ants and investigated how this affects relevant brain regions during early compass calibration. We found that manipulating the Earth's magnetic field has profound effects on neuronal plasticity in two sensory integration centers.

The role of learning-walk related multisensory experience in rewiring visual circuits in the desert ant brain.

Efficient spatial orientation in the natural environment is crucial for the survival of most animal species. Cataglyphis desert ants possess excellent navigational skills. After far-ranging foraging excursions, the ants return to their inconspicuous nest entrance using celestial and panoramic cues.

Rotation of skylight polarization during learning walks is necessary to trigger neuronal plasticity in ants.

Many animals use celestial cues for impressive navigational performances in challenging habitats. Since the position of the sun and associated skylight cues change throughout the day and season, it is crucial to correct for these changes. desert ants possess a time-compensated skylight compass allowing them to navigate back to their nest using the shortest way possible.

Magnetosensation during re-learning walks in desert ants (Cataglyphis nodus).

At the beginning of their foraging careers, Cataglyphis desert ants calibrate their compass systems and learn the visual panorama surrounding the nest entrance. For that, they perform well-structured initial learning walks. During rotational body movements (pirouettes), naïve ants (novices) gaze back to the nest entrance to memorize their way back to the nest.

Sex-specific and caste-specific brain adaptations related to spatial orientation in Cataglyphis ants.

Cataglyphis desert ants are charismatic central place foragers. After long-ranging foraging trips, individual workers navigate back to their nest relying mostly on visual cues. The reproductive caste faces other orientation challenges, i.

Johnston's organ and its central projections in Cataglyphis desert ants.

The Johnston's organ (JO) in the insect antenna is a multisensory organ involved in several navigational tasks including wind-compass orientation, flight control, graviception, and, possibly, magnetoreception. Here we investigate the three dimensional anatomy of the JO and its neuronal projections into the brain of the desert ant Cataglyphis, a marvelous long-distance navigator. The JO of C.

Magnetoreception in Hymenoptera: importance for navigation.

The use of information provided by the geomagnetic field (GMF) for navigation is widespread across the animal kingdom. At the same time, the magnetic sense is one of the least understood senses. Here, we review evidence for magnetoreception in Hymenoptera.

Experimental ethology of learning in desert ants: Becoming expert navigators.

Foraging desert ants are repeatedly presented with the challenge of leaving the nest, searching the scorching desert landscape to find food, and then transporting it back home. To accomplish this task, foragers have a navigational toolbox, which relies on olfactory, idiothetic, visual and magnetic cues. Desert ants have been widely studied with regards to these abilities, including a heavy focus on learned visual cues, the most prominent being the terrestrial panorama.

The Geomagnetic Field Is a Compass Cue in Cataglyphis Ant Navigation.

Desert ants (Cataglyphis) are famous insect navigators. During their foraging lives, the ants leave their underground colonies for long distances and return to their starting point with fair accuracy [1, 2]. Their incessantly running path integrator provides them with a continually updated home vector [3-5].

Early foraging life: spatial and temporal aspects of landmark learning in the ant Cataglyphis noda.

Within the powerful navigational toolkit implemented in desert ants, path integration and landmark guidance are the key routines. Here, we use cue-conflict experiments to investigate the interplay between these two routines in ants, Cataglyphis noda, which start their foraging careers (novices) with learning walks and are then tested at different stages of experience. During their learning walks, the novices take nest-centered views from various directions around the nest.

The Role of Celestial Compass Information in Ants during Learning Walks and for Neuroplasticity in the Central Complex and Mushroom Bodies.

Central place foragers are faced with the challenge to learn the position of their nest entrance in its surroundings, in order to find their way back home every time they go out to search for food. To acquire navigational information at the beginning of their foraging career, performs learning walks during the transition from interior worker to forager. These small loops around the nest entrance are repeatedly interrupted by strikingly accurate back turns during which the ants stop and precisely gaze back to the nest entrance-presumably to learn the landmark panorama of the nest surroundings.

Species-specific differences in the fine structure of learning walk elements in ants.

desert ants are famous navigators. Like all central place foragers, they are confronted with the challenge to return home, i.e.

Ontogeny of learning walks and the acquisition of landmark information in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis.

At the beginning of their foraging lives, desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis) are for the first time exposed to the visual world within which they henceforth must accomplish their navigational tasks. Their habitat, North African salt pans, is barren, and the nest entrance, a tiny hole in the ground, is almost invisible. Although natural landmarks are scarce and the ants mainly depend on path integration for returning to the starting point, they can also learn and use landmarks successfully to navigate through their largely featureless habitat.