A dung beetle that path integrates without the use of landmarks
(2020) In Animal Cognition 23(6). p.1161-1175- Abstract
Unusual amongst dung beetles, Scarabaeus galenus digs a burrow that it provisions by making repeated trips to a nearby dung pile. Even more remarkable is that these beetles return home moving backwards, with a pellet of dung between their hind legs. Here, we explore the strategy that S. galenus uses to find its way home. We find that, like many other insects, they use path integration to calculate the direction and distance to their home. If they fail to locate their burrow, the beetles initiate a distinct looping search behaviour that starts with a characteristic sharp turn, we have called a ‘turning point’. When homing beetles are passively displaced or transferred to an unfamiliar environment, they initiate a search at a point very... (More)
Unusual amongst dung beetles, Scarabaeus galenus digs a burrow that it provisions by making repeated trips to a nearby dung pile. Even more remarkable is that these beetles return home moving backwards, with a pellet of dung between their hind legs. Here, we explore the strategy that S. galenus uses to find its way home. We find that, like many other insects, they use path integration to calculate the direction and distance to their home. If they fail to locate their burrow, the beetles initiate a distinct looping search behaviour that starts with a characteristic sharp turn, we have called a ‘turning point’. When homing beetles are passively displaced or transferred to an unfamiliar environment, they initiate a search at a point very close to the location of their fictive burrow—that is, a spot at the same relative distance and direction from the pick-up point as the original burrow. Unlike other insects, S. galenus do not appear to supplement estimates of the burrow location with landmark information. Thus, S. galenus represents a rare case of a consistently backward-homing animal that does not use landmarks to augment its path integration strategy.
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- author
- Dacke, Marie LU ; el Jundi, Basil LU ; Gagnon, Yakir LU ; Yilmaz, Ayse LU ; Byrne, Marcus and Baird, Emily LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-11
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Dung beetle, Homing, Navigation, Path integration, Scarabaeus, Search
- in
- Animal Cognition
- volume
- 23
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 15 pages
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85090440502
- pmid:32902692
- ISSN
- 1435-9448
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10071-020-01426-8
- project
- Navigating the most challenging habitats on earth: unravelling the architecture of a universal compass system
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ccfb1980-7744-45e8-879a-29013ce4a755
- date added to LUP
- 2020-10-02 15:09:57
- date last changed
- 2024-06-12 21:06:30
@article{ccfb1980-7744-45e8-879a-29013ce4a755,
abstract = {{<p>Unusual amongst dung beetles, Scarabaeus galenus digs a burrow that it provisions by making repeated trips to a nearby dung pile. Even more remarkable is that these beetles return home moving backwards, with a pellet of dung between their hind legs. Here, we explore the strategy that S. galenus uses to find its way home. We find that, like many other insects, they use path integration to calculate the direction and distance to their home. If they fail to locate their burrow, the beetles initiate a distinct looping search behaviour that starts with a characteristic sharp turn, we have called a ‘turning point’. When homing beetles are passively displaced or transferred to an unfamiliar environment, they initiate a search at a point very close to the location of their fictive burrow—that is, a spot at the same relative distance and direction from the pick-up point as the original burrow. Unlike other insects, S. galenus do not appear to supplement estimates of the burrow location with landmark information. Thus, S. galenus represents a rare case of a consistently backward-homing animal that does not use landmarks to augment its path integration strategy.</p>}},
author = {{Dacke, Marie and el Jundi, Basil and Gagnon, Yakir and Yilmaz, Ayse and Byrne, Marcus and Baird, Emily}},
issn = {{1435-9448}},
keywords = {{Dung beetle; Homing; Navigation; Path integration; Scarabaeus; Search}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{1161--1175}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Animal Cognition}},
title = {{A dung beetle that path integrates without the use of landmarks}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10071-020-01426-8}},
doi = {{10.1007/s10071-020-01426-8}},
volume = {{23}},
year = {{2020}},
}