Getting It Straight: Dynamic Cue Weighting and Orientation Strategies in Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles
(2026)- Abstract
- Directed movement is fundamental to animal behavior, yet the mechanisms underlying robust orientation remain
incompletely understood. The ball-rolling dung beetle offers a unique model system for investigating these mechanisms
due to its distinctive navigational challenges: maintaining a straight-line trajectory while moving backward
and transporting a dung ball. In this thesis, I investigates oriented behavior in dung beetles, focusing primarily on
the diurnal South African species Kheper lamarcki and its characteristic orientation dance.
I characterize the triggering factors and motifs of the orientation dance - yaw rotations performed atop the
dung ball - demonstrating that these rotation events are... (More) - Directed movement is fundamental to animal behavior, yet the mechanisms underlying robust orientation remain
incompletely understood. The ball-rolling dung beetle offers a unique model system for investigating these mechanisms
due to its distinctive navigational challenges: maintaining a straight-line trajectory while moving backward
and transporting a dung ball. In this thesis, I investigates oriented behavior in dung beetles, focusing primarily on
the diurnal South African species Kheper lamarcki and its characteristic orientation dance.
I characterize the triggering factors and motifs of the orientation dance - yaw rotations performed atop the
dung ball - demonstrating that these rotation events are triggered by terrain-related disturbances but also occur
spontaneously during unimpeded travel (Paper I). Notably, I indicate that rotation events likely serve to map and
re-map external directional cues onto the beetle’s internal compass, restoring orientation to shifted cue positions
and improving ambiguous directional signals (Paper I; Paper III).
I further demonstrate that dung beetles can maintain their bearings using idiothetic information alone only over
short distances (Paper III). When external cues are available, beetles dynamically weight directional information
from multiple sources, including the position of the sun and wind flow, into a combined directional signal. This
weighting shifts according to cue usefulness, which is reflected in the relative influence of the cues on directional
guidance (Paper II).
Finally, I describe cooperative brood ball transportation in two Sisyphus species, revealing that males control
steering while females contribute passively during flat-ground travel but actively assist in obstacle clearance - a
dynamic collaboration enabling efficient straight-line orientation without a predefined destination (Paper IV).
Together, these findings advance our understanding of how insects maintain robust directional guidance through
the dynamic integration of multimodal cues, the functional role of rotational (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/823f043d-1319-4928-8c8a-80a26927e667
- author
- Dirlik, Elin LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Associate Professor How, Martin, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, S8 1TQ, United Kingdom.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-02-10
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Navigation, Orientation, Compass
- pages
- 68 pages
- publisher
- Lund University
- defense location
- Blue Hall, Department of Biology, Sölvegatan 37, 22362 Lund
- defense date
- 2026-03-06 10:00:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-8104-824-7
- 978-91-8104-823-0
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 823f043d-1319-4928-8c8a-80a26927e667
- date added to LUP
- 2026-02-10 13:37:42
- date last changed
- 2026-02-26 14:58:10
@phdthesis{823f043d-1319-4928-8c8a-80a26927e667,
abstract = {{Directed movement is fundamental to animal behavior, yet the mechanisms underlying robust orientation remain<br/>incompletely understood. The ball-rolling dung beetle offers a unique model system for investigating these mechanisms<br/>due to its distinctive navigational challenges: maintaining a straight-line trajectory while moving backward<br/>and transporting a dung ball. In this thesis, I investigates oriented behavior in dung beetles, focusing primarily on<br/>the diurnal South African species Kheper lamarcki and its characteristic orientation dance.<br/><br/>I characterize the triggering factors and motifs of the orientation dance - yaw rotations performed atop the<br/>dung ball - demonstrating that these rotation events are triggered by terrain-related disturbances but also occur<br/>spontaneously during unimpeded travel (Paper I). Notably, I indicate that rotation events likely serve to map and<br/>re-map external directional cues onto the beetle’s internal compass, restoring orientation to shifted cue positions<br/>and improving ambiguous directional signals (Paper I; Paper III).<br/><br/>I further demonstrate that dung beetles can maintain their bearings using idiothetic information alone only over<br/>short distances (Paper III). When external cues are available, beetles dynamically weight directional information<br/>from multiple sources, including the position of the sun and wind flow, into a combined directional signal. This<br/>weighting shifts according to cue usefulness, which is reflected in the relative influence of the cues on directional<br/>guidance (Paper II).<br/><br/>Finally, I describe cooperative brood ball transportation in two Sisyphus species, revealing that males control<br/>steering while females contribute passively during flat-ground travel but actively assist in obstacle clearance - a<br/>dynamic collaboration enabling efficient straight-line orientation without a predefined destination (Paper IV).<br/>Together, these findings advance our understanding of how insects maintain robust directional guidance through<br/>the dynamic integration of multimodal cues, the functional role of rotational}},
author = {{Dirlik, Elin}},
isbn = {{978-91-8104-824-7}},
keywords = {{Navigation; Orientation; Compass}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{02}},
publisher = {{Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Getting It Straight: Dynamic Cue Weighting and Orientation Strategies in Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/241936022/Elin_Dirlik_-_WEBB.pdf}},
year = {{2026}},
}