The twilight zone: ambient light levels trigger activity in primitive ants
Date
2010
Authors
Narendra, Ajay
Reid, Samuel
Hemmi, Jan
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Publisher
Royal Society of London
Abstract
Many animals become active during twilight, a narrow time window where the properties of the visual environment are dramatically different from both day and night. Despite the fact that many animals including mammals, reptiles, birds and insects become active in this specific temporal niche, we do not know what cues trigger this activity. To identify the onset of specific temporal niches, animals could anticipate the timing of regular events or directly measure environmental variables. We show that the Australian bull ant, Myrmecia pyriformis, starts foraging only during evening twilight throughout the year. The onset occurs neither at a specific temperature nor at a specific time relative to sunset, but at a specific ambient light intensity. Foraging onset occurs later when light intensities at sunset are brighter than normal or earlier when light intensities at sunset are darker than normal. By modifying ambient light intensity experimentally, we provide clear evidence that ants indeed measure light levels and do not rely on an internal rhythm to begin foraging. We suggest that the reason for restricting the foraging onset to twilight and measuring light intensity to trigger activity is to optimize the trade-off between predation risk and ease of navigation.
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Keywords
Keywords: ant; light intensity; navigation; predation risk; temperature effect; trade-off; trigger mechanism; twilight; animal; animal behavior; ant; association; biological rhythm; conference paper; feeding behavior; light; physiology; predation; season; Animals; Foraging onset; Light intensity; Myrmecia; Navigation; Temporal niche; Twilight
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Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences
Type
Journal article
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Restricted until
2037-12-31
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