Cammaerts, M.-C.

Sensitivity and adaptation of Myrmica sabuleti workers (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to light

Following up on previous studies on visual perception of Myrmica sabuleti, I intended to specify this ant species' sensitivity to light intensity. I therefore assessed the lowest light intensity necessary to induce a conditioned response to a visual cue in workers maintained during ten days under a given light intensity and then in the same workers maintained during one day under another light intensity. The visual threshold the ants acquired after a ten day-period under one light intensity appeared to be an exponential function of that light intensity's square root. After an additional one day-period under another light intensity, the ants acquired another visual threshold yet differing from the one presented after the ten day-period under that corresponding light intensity. Therefore, M. sabuleti workers adapt themselves to changes in light intensity initially rather rapidly, and then more slowly over the course of time.

Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2005 The Author(s).

Myrmica sabuleti, light and dark adaptation, vision, visual threshold.