Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Navigation has been studied rigorously in arthropods and the rich diversity of solutions these animals have evolved for such tasks is well documented.Nevertheless, these studies have focused on only a few diurnal species that live in simple environments with salient, reliable sources of spatial information.In this study, we examine the homing abilities of Phrynus marginemaculatus, a species of amblypygid (Class Arachnida, Order Amblypygi).Amblypygids are a bizarre, understudied order of arachnids that are able to navigate to a preferred shelter at night in challenging environments.The sensory and behavioral mechanisms by which amblypygids navigate are still unclear.To investigate this, we placed P. marginemaculatus individuals into an arena that contained a point odor source and two shelters that differed in quality.We monitored their homing behavior over a session of five to seven contiguous nights using an automated video tracker that continually recorded the coordinates of a subject in the arena.We found that individuals reliably exited and returned to a shelter each night and learned to discriminate between shelters without the use of visual information.Behavioral measurements from our coordinate data also provide insight into potential sensory and behavioral strategies this species uses while homing.
Author: Jacob M. Graving
Institution: Bowling Green State University
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2595745500