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Czaczkes, Tomer J. ; Kumar, P.

Very rapid multi-odour discrimination learning in the ant Lasius niger

Article

Czaczkes, Tomer J. and Kumar, P. (2020) Very rapid multi-odour discrimination learning in the ant Lasius niger. Insectes Sociaux 67, pp. 541-545.

DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.44735


Abstract

Insects can be very good learners. For example, they can form associations between a cue and a reward after only one exposure. Discrimination learning, in which multiple cues are associated with different outcomes, is critical for responding correctly complex environments. However, the extent of such discrimination learning is not well explored. Studies concerning discrimination learning within ...

Insects can be very good learners. For example, they can form associations between a cue and a reward after only one exposure. Discrimination learning, in which multiple cues are associated with different outcomes, is critical for responding correctly complex environments. However, the extent of such discrimination learning is not well explored. Studies concerning discrimination learning within one valence are also rare. Here we ask whether Lasius niger ants can form multiple concurrent associations to different reward levels, and how rapidly such associations can be learned. We allowed individual workers to sequentially feed on up to four different food qualities, each associated with a different odour cue. Using pairwise preference tests, we found that ants can successfully learn at least two, and likely three, odour/quality associations, requiring as little as one exposure to each combination in order for learning to take place. By testing preference between two non-extreme values (i.e. between 0.4 M and 0.8 M having been trained to the qualities 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6) we exclude the possibility that ants are only memorising the best and worst values in a set. Such rapid learning of multiple associations, within one valence and one modality, is impressive, and makes Lasius niger a very tractable model for complex training paradigms.



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Details

Item typeArticle
Journal or Publication TitleInsectes Sociaux
PublisherSPRINGER BASEL AG
Open Access TypeDEAL (Springer)
Place of PublicationBASEL
Volume67
Page Rangepp. 541-545
Date10 November 2020
Date of publication05 Feb 2021 07:09
InstitutionsBiology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie
Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heinze)
Identification Number
ValueType
10.1007/s00040-020-00787-0UNSPECIFIED
KeywordsLONG-TERM; MEMORY; Discrimination conditioning; Associative learning; Insects; Ants
Dewey Decimal Classification500 Science > 570 Life sciences
500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgYes
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-447358
Item ID44735

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