U-turns on ant pheronome trails

Hart, Adam G ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4795-9986 and Jackson, D. (2006) U-turns on ant pheronome trails. Current Biology, 16 (2). pp. 42-43. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.01.015

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Abstract

Many ant species use branching networks of pheromone trails for orientation between nest and resources [1,2,3]. Ants on trails make adaptive U-turns for correcting their course using visual cues [4, 5] or trail geometry information [2]. However, the role of seemingly non-corrective U-turns on trails is poorly understood. We found that a minority of ants consistently make frequent and seemingly inappropriate U-turns during foraging bouts. These frequent U-turners were also highly likely to lay pheromone trail, whilst non-turners rarely did so. Our data suggest that U-turning ants make a greater contribution to trail persistence than do non-turners.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Ants
Related URLs:	Publisher
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology > QL360 Invertebrates > QL 461 Insects
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education, Health and Sciences
Depositing User:	EPrints Services
Date Deposited:	06 Mar 2014 11:04
Last Modified:	05 Aug 2025 09:38
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/227

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