title: Multimodal sensory reliance in the nocturnal homing of the amblypygid Phrynus pseudoparvulus (Class Arachnida, Order Amblypygi)?
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 (<5m). 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 (8m) 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, 348 Manter Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA. Electronic address: ehebets2@unl.edu.
authors.forename: Eileen A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hebets
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecologia, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aceves-Aparicio
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecologia, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, Mexico.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Argüello
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.
authors.forename: Verner P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Bingman
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, 2060 San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Escalante
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, 348 Manter Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA; Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, 3700 E Gull Lake Dr, Hickory Corners, MI 49060, USA.
authors.forename: Eben J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Gering
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Allied Health, Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, TN 37315, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Nelsen
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, 2060 San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR 00931, USA.
authors.forename: José Ángel
authors.initials: JÁ
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, 2060 San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Segura-Hernández
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116 Building 1540, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Settepani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Wiegmann
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, 348 Manter Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
authors.forename: Jay A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Stafstrom
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001097:Arachnida / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006702:Homing Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D065854:Spatial Navigation / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Mushroom body; Navigation; Olfaction; Spatial cognition; Spatial orientation