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Figure 1 | Frontiers in Zoology

Figure 1

From: Desert ants do not acquire and use a three-dimensional global vector

Figure 1

Schematic lateral view of channels used in training and test situations. Ants were trained from the nest ("N") to visit a feeder ("F") at the end of a series of channels. (A) depicts the situation for flat training. (B) shows the situation for ramp training, leading to an elevated feeder. (C) illustrates the set-up for Λ training, which led the ants to a feeder at ground level over an artificial "hill". Dimensions refer to experiment 1 and experiment 2, separated by "/". (D) In experiment 1, homebound ants were placed individually in a test channel at the release point ("R"). At six points with distances of 1.6 m between them, ants could choose either to continue walking horizontally, or climb down on a ramp. The "decision point" consisted of a widening in the channel (D, inset), where one side would continue horizontally, and the other one lead downwards. (E) In experiment 2, ants leaving the nest ("N") were led individually into a test channel that offered six ascending ramps, each at 1.5 m distance from the next. Gateways at the ramp bases (E, inset) allowed animals to climb up or pass through and continue walking horizontally. In D and E, the position of the ramp marked by a black arrow corresponds to that of the upward training ramp.

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