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Laboratory observations of nuptial flights of the ant Polyrhachis laboriosa

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Burnat K., Godzinska E.

Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis

1997

vol. 57

issue 2

157-162

Ethology of Polyrhachis laboriosa, an ant species from equatorial Africa, is little known. No field observation of a nuptial flight of these ants was ever made. We describe two nuptial flights observed in a laboratory colony of P. laboriosa at a 3 days interval. They both occurred in the morning while the nest was kept in near darkness (less than 2 lux of daylight). Flying activity of the alates was suppressed within 1 h by their exposure to daylight of about 140 lux, and within several minutes by their exposure to a lamp emitting white light of 3,000 lux and acting as a source of heat. On the day following the first flight the alates and the workers showed exceptionally high level of mutual grooming. The alates, in particular the males, were transported by workers to the brood chambers whenever they strayed outside and after the nuptial flights.

Direction discrimination learning in normal and visually deprived cats and the effects of lateral suprasylvian lesions

100%

Burnat K., Zernicki B.

Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis

1997

vol. 57

issue 3

235-245

We used 5 binocularly deprived cats (BD cats), 4 control cats reared also in the laboratory (C cats) and 4 cats reared in a normal environment (N cats). The cats were trained to discriminate an upward or downward-moving light spot versus a stationary spot (detection task) and then an upward versus a downward spot (direction task). The N and C cats learned slowly. The learning was slower than in previously studied discriminations of stationary stimuli. However, all N and C cats mastered the detection task and except one C cat the direction task. In contrast, 4 BD cats failed in the detection task and all in the direction task. This result is consistent with single-cell recording data showing impairment of direction analysis in the visual system in BD cats. After completing the training the upper part of the middle suprasylvian sulcus was removed unilaterally in 7 cats and bilaterally in 6 cats. Surprisingly, the unilateral lesions were more effective: the clear-cut retention deficits were found in 5 cats lesioned unilaterally, whereas only in one cat lesioned bilaterally.

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2 Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis

2 1997

2 Burnat K.

1 Godzinska E.

1 Zernicki B.

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Laboratory observations of nuptial flights of the ant Polyrhachis laboriosa

Direction discrimination learning in normal and visually deprived cats and the effects of lateral suprasylvian lesions