Document Detail


First evidence of fine colour discrimination ability in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae).
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20008364     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
In the present study, we report the first evidence that ants discriminate and learn perceptually close colour stimuli. Foragers of the ant species Cataglyphis aenescens and Formica cunicularia were trained in a Y-maze choice apparatus to monochromatic light stimuli of a constant intensity associated with a food reward. Two stimuli, with a mean wavelength of 40 nm perceptual distance, were chosen from the UV (340 nm vs 380 nm) and the green (510 nm vs 550 nm) range because these species are UV-green dichromats. Foragers were trained with two conditioning paradigms [absolute conditioning (AC) and differential conditioning (DC)]. In the UV range, C. aenescens foragers failed to discriminate when presented with a small colour difference in both training procedures. Foragers also failed in the green range when trained with AC but showed significant bias towards the rewarded stimulus when trained with DC. Formica cunicularia foragers achieved the task in the UV range when trained with DC only. In the green range, F. cunicularia foragers showed clear preference for the rewarded stimulus in both training conditioning procedures. Foragers never failed in choosing the rewarded stimulus in DC even when the intensity of the rewarded stimulus was reduced by one log unit. This clearly indicates that DC is of paramount importance to discriminate perceptually close colour stimuli.
Authors:
Y Camlitepe; V Aksoy
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The Journal of experimental biology     Volume:  213     ISSN:  1477-9145     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Exp. Biol.     Publication Date:  2010 Jan 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-12-16     Completed Date:  2010-02-22     Revised Date:  2010-05-19    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0243705     Medline TA:  J Exp Biol     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  72-7     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Trakya University, 22030, Edirne, Turkey. yilmazc@trakya.edu.tr
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Animals
Ants / physiology*
Color
Color Perception
Color Perception Tests
Conditioning, Operant
Ultraviolet Rays

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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