Title

Multimodal Sensory Reliance in the Nocturnal Homing of the Amblypygid Phrynus pseudoparvulus (Class Arachnida, Order Amblypygi)?

Authors

Eileen A. Hebets, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio, Instituto de Ecologia - Veracruz, Mexico
Samuel Aguilar-Arguello, Instituto de Ecologia - Veracruz, Mexico
Verner P. Bingman, Bowling Green State University
Ignacio Escalante, Universidad de Costa Rica - San Jose
Eben Gering, University of Nebraska - Lincoln; Michigan State UniversityFollow
David R. Nelsen, Southern Adventist University
Jennifer Rivera, Universidad de Costa Rica - San Jose
Jose Angel Sanchez-Ruiz, Unviersity of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras
Laura Segura-Hernandez, Universidad de Costa Rica - San Jose
Virginia Settepani, Aarhus University - Denmark
Daniel D. Wiegmann, Bowling Green State University
Jay A. Stafstrom, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2014

Publication Title

Behavioural Processes

Keywords

Mushroom body, Navigation, Olfaction, Spatial cognition, Spatial orientation

ISSN

0376-6357

Volume

108

First Page

123

Last Page

130

Abstract

Like many other nocturnal arthropods, the amblypygid Phrynus pseudoparvulus is capable of homing. The environment through which these predators navigate is a dense and heterogeneous tropical forest understory and the mechanism(s) underlying their putatively complex navigational abilities are presently unknown. This study explores the sensory inputs that might facilitate nocturnal navigation in the amblypygid P. pseudoparvulus. Specifically, we use sensory system manipulations in conjunction with field displacements to examine the potential involvement of multimodal – olfactory and visual – stimuli in P. pseudoparvulus’ homing behavior. In a first experiment, we deprived individuals of their olfactory capacity and displaced them to the opposite side of their home trees (<5 m). We found that olfaction-intact individuals were more likely to be re-sighted in their home refuges than olfaction-deprived individuals. In a second experiment, we independently manipulated both olfactory and visual sensory capacities in conjunction with longer-distance displacements (8 m) from home trees. We found that sensory-intact individuals tended to be re-sighted on their home tree more often than sensory-deprived individuals, with a stronger effect of olfactory deprivation than visual deprivation. Comparing across sensory modality manipulations, olfaction-manipulated individuals took longer to return to their home trees than vision-manipulated individuals. Together, our results indicate that olfaction is important in the nocturnal navigation of P. pseudoparvulus and suggest that vision may also play a more minor role.

Comments

©2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Additional Comments

European Research Council grant #: ERC StG-2011_282163

NSUWorks Citation

Hebets, Eileen A.; Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio; Samuel Aguilar-Arguello; Verner P. Bingman; Ignacio Escalante; Eben Gering; David R. Nelsen; Jennifer Rivera; Jose Angel Sanchez-Ruiz; Laura Segura-Hernandez; Virginia Settepani; Daniel D. Wiegmann; and Jay A. Stafstrom. 2014. "Multimodal Sensory Reliance in the Nocturnal Homing of the Amblypygid Phrynus pseudoparvulus (Class Arachnida, Order Amblypygi)?." Behavioural Processes 108, (): 123-130. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2014.09.014.

ORCID ID

0000-0002-1270-6727

DOI

10.1016/j.beproc.2014.09.014