Summary
Lasius pallitarsis ants were placed in situations where they encountered unfamiliar areas and had to choose between one of two directions for further exploration. Workers advancing onto new ground apparently leave behind some chemical signature to which later ants orient. This orientation occurred under two types of experimental conditions. First, ants show a significant tendency to follow each other as they advance out from their colony into unexplored areas. The same ants transferred into an entirely novel situation, in which there is no obvious “homeward” direction, show similar behavior. When ants are coming from familiar ground, following tends to increase as the number of ants passing the decision point increases. However, following decreases when ants are on entirely novel ground. The results are discussed in relation to models describing foraging responses.
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Nonacs, P. Exploratory behavior ofLasius pallitarsis ants encountering novel areas. Ins. Soc 38, 345–349 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01241870
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01241870