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The Light and Magnetic Compass of the Weaver Ant, Oecophylla smaragdina (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Author(s) -
Jander Rudolf,
Jander Ursula
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1998.tb00108.x
Subject(s) - compass , arboreal locomotion , foraging , hymenoptera , biology , orientation (vector space) , ecology , geography , habitat , cartography , geometry , mathematics
Abstract Some of the foraging of the arboreal Australian weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina takes place on the ground. Odor trails and compass orientation are used to return to the trunk of their nesting tree. Field experiments established directional responses to light and the natural magnetic field. The precision of the light compass orientation is much greater than that of the magnetic compass orientation: the respective average wrapped‐around standard deviations (WSD) of directional choices towards home are WSD = ± 48° and WSD = ± 105°.