Abstract

Visual navigation is a critical behaviour formanyanimals, and it has been
particularly well studied in ants. Decades of ant navigation research have
uncovered many ways in which efficient navigation can be implemented
in small brains. For example, ants show us how visual information can
drive navigation via procedural rather than map-like instructions. Two
recent behavioural observations highlight interesting adaptive ways in
which ants implement visual guidance. Firstly, it has been shownthat the
systematic nest searches of ants can be biased by recent experience of
familiar scenes. Secondly, ants have been observed to show temporary
periods of confusion when asked to repeat a route segment, even if that
route segment is very familiar. Taken together, these results indicate that
the navigational decisions of ants take into account their recent
experiences as well as the currently perceived environment.