Do familiar landmarks reset the global path integration system of desert ants?

Abstract

It is often suggested that animals may link landmark memories to a global coordinate system provided by path integration, thereby obtaining a map-like representation of familiar terrain. In an attempt to discover if desert ants form such associations we have performed experiments that test whether desert ants recall a long-term memory of a global path integration vector on arriving at a familiar food site. Ants from three nests were trained along L-shaped routes to a feeder. Each route was entirely within open-topped channels that obs Show more