@twizzt

Wow what a moment!

Minute ants with mandibles clasped around the antennae (or limbs) of larger insects seems to be a current occurrence.

Here is a Cataglyphis nodus ant with a different, tiny ant attached to its antenna: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92084232

Of course ants will attack wherever they can ... here a (dead) ant remains attached by its mandibles onto the leg of a masked bee, Hylaeus modestus https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30098847 & https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30105912

#iNaturalist #Hymenoptera #ants #entomology #insects #Cataglyphis #Hylaeus

"Displacement experiments provide evidence for path integration in #Drosophila", Titova et al. 2022 (Andrew Straw's lab) https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.22.501185v1

In other words, desert ants (#Cataglyphis) and bees are famous for exploring a landscape and then returning in a straight line to the nest – but this ability may be present in all insects, if it is present even in the humble Drosophila.

What a clever set of experiments!

#neuroscience #entomology #PathIntegration

RT @Cataglyfilosofi
Today, I will give a talk about the magnetic #compass in #Cataglyphis ants🐜 invited by @K_Corthals and @BartGeurten. Do not miss the symposium 20 "Hidden Senses" at #NWG2023 @NeuroforumNWG covering #thermoreception🌡, #hygrosensation💧, #magnetoreception🧭 & #electroreception⚡️

@dlevenstein Suddenly reminded of all the studies on ants counting steps. Like this one: "The Ant Odometer: Stepping on Stilts and Stumps", Wittlinger et al. 2006 https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1126912 Proprioception has a central role to brain rhythms and brain function in general, perhaps unsurprisingly.
#Cataglyphis