Collett T S, Collett M, Wehner R
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
J Exp Biol. 2001 May;204(Pt 9):1635-9. doi: 10.1242/jeb.204.9.1635.
Desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis) were trained to follow a fixed route around a barrier to a feeder. Their homeward trajectories were recorded on a test field containing a similar barrier, oriented either as in training or rotated through 22 or 45 . Under one set of experimental conditions, the homeward trajectories rotated with the orientation of the barrier, implying that the visual features of this extended landmark can determine the route independently of compass cues: the barrier provided a "visual scene" that controlled the trajectories of the ants. Under other conditions, the trajectories after rotation were a compromise between the habitual compass direction and the direction with respect to the rotated barrier. Trajectories were determined primarily by the visual scene when ants were allowed to return close to the nest before being caught and tested. The compromise trajectories were observed when ants were taken from the feeder. It seems that ants exhibit at least two separate learnt responses to the barrier: (i) a habitual compass direction triggered by the sight of the barrier and (ii) a visual scene direction that is compass-independent. We suggest that the weighting accorded to these different learnt responses changes with the state of the path integration system.
沙漠蚂蚁（猫蚁）被训练沿着围绕障碍物的固定路线前往喂食器。它们的返程轨迹在一个包含类似障碍物的测试场地被记录下来，障碍物的朝向要么与训练时相同，要么旋转22度或45度。在一组实验条件下，返程轨迹随着障碍物的朝向而旋转，这意味着这个延伸地标物的视觉特征可以独立于罗盘线索来确定路线：障碍物提供了一个“视觉场景”，控制着蚂蚁的轨迹。在其他条件下，旋转后的轨迹是习惯的罗盘方向和相对于旋转后障碍物的方向之间的折衷。当蚂蚁在被捕获并测试之前被允许返回靠近巢穴的地方时，轨迹主要由视觉场景决定。当蚂蚁从喂食器被带走时，观察到折衷轨迹。似乎蚂蚁对障碍物表现出至少两种不同的习得反应：（i）由看到障碍物触发的习惯罗盘方向，以及（ii）与罗盘无关的视觉场景方向。我们认为，赋予这些不同习得反应的权重会随着路径整合系统的状态而变化。
