Ants Can Expect the Size of the Next Element in a Geometric Sequence of Increasing or Decreasing Shapes, Only If This Sequence Is Present

Marie-Claire Cammaerts,Roger Cammaerts

doi:10.5539/ijb.v13n2p37

Abstract

Having shown that the ant Myrmica sabuleti can expect the following number in an arithmetic sequence of increasing or decreasing numbers, we here investigated on their ability in expecting the size of the following element in an increasing or decreasing geometric sequence of shapes, otherwise identical. We found that the ants could anticipatively correctly increment or decrement a geometric sequence when tested in the presence of the learned sequence, but not without seeing the sequence in its learned sequential order. Such a behavior, i.e. perfectly choosing the next element of a sequence when in presence of that sequence but not otherwise, seems appropriate for the use of encountered cues while foraging and returning to the nest.

Highlights

Having shown that the ant Myrmica sabuleti can expect the following number in an arithmetic sequence of increasing or decreasing numbers, we here investigated on their ability in expecting the size of the following element in an increasing or decreasing geometric sequence of shapes, otherwise identical
It has previously been shown that the workers of the ant Myrmica sabuleti Meinert, 1861 are affected by distance and size effects concerning number discrimination (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2020)
We set up an experimental protocol and a design similar to that employed for revealing the ants’ expectation of the following quantity in an arithmetic sequence of increasing or decreasing numbers, but allowing examining if they can anticipate the physical size of the element in a geometric sequence

Summary

Introduction

It has previously been shown that the workers of the ant Myrmica sabuleti Meinert, 1861 are affected by distance and size effects concerning number discrimination (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2020). It was shown that they present distance and size effects while discriminating elements of different physical sizes (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2020a). It has been shown that they expect the following number in an increasing or a decreasing arithmetic sequence of numbers (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2021a, b). We set up an experimental protocol and a design similar to that employed for revealing the ants’ expectation of the following quantity in an arithmetic sequence of increasing or decreasing numbers, but allowing examining if they can anticipate the physical size of the element in a geometric sequence. Before explaining our method and relating our results, we briefly report what is known about animals’ expectative behavior and sequence learning

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Results

Conclusion