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Science 3 October 1980:
Vol. 210. no. 4465, pp. 86 - 88
DOI: 10.1126/science.210.4465.86
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Articles

Canopy Orientation: A New Kind of Orientation in Ants

BERT HÖLLDOBLER 1

1 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Celestial cues, such as the sun or patterns of polarized sky light, appear to have no detectable effect in the precise homing orientation of foragers of Paltothyreus tarsatus. Field and laboratory experiments reveal that canopy patterns are a major influence in the home range orientation of this ponerine ant, a common species in African forests. Canopy orientation appears to be well suited to the restrictive lighting conditions of tropical forests.

Submitted on March 20, 1980


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