Compass Cue Integration and Its Relation to the Visual Ecology of Three Tribes of Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles
To guide their characteristic straight-line orientation away from the dung pile, ball-rolling dung beetles steer according to directional information provided by celestial cues, which, among the most relevant are the sun and polarised skylight. Most studies regarding the use of celestial cues and th...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/6/526 |
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| author | Lana Khaldy Claudia Tocco Marcus Byrne Marie Dacke |
| author_facet | Lana Khaldy Claudia Tocco Marcus Byrne Marie Dacke |
| author_sort | Lana Khaldy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To guide their characteristic straight-line orientation away from the dung pile, ball-rolling dung beetles steer according to directional information provided by celestial cues, which, among the most relevant are the sun and polarised skylight. Most studies regarding the use of celestial cues and their influence on the orientation system of the diurnal ball-rolling beetle have been performed on beetles of the tribe Scarabaeini living in open habitats. These beetles steer primarily according to the directional information provided by the sun. In contrast, <i>Sisyphus fasciculatus</i>, a species from a different dung-beetle tribe (the Sisyphini) that lives in habitats with closely spaced trees and tall grass, relies predominantly on directional information from the celestial pattern of polarised light. To investigate the influence of visual ecology on the relative weight of these cues, we studied the orientation strategy of three different tribes of dung beetles (Scarabaeini, Sisyphini and Gymnopleurini) living within the same biome, but in different habitat types. We found that species within a tribe share the same orientation strategy, but that this strategy differs across the tribes; Scarabaeini, living in open habitats, attribute the greatest relative weight to the directional information from the sun; Sisyphini, living in closed habitats, mainly relies on directional information from polarised skylight; and Gymnopleurini, also living in open habitats, appear to weight both cues equally. We conclude that, despite exhibiting different body size, eye size and morphology, dung beetles nevertheless manage to solve the challenge of straight-line orientation by weighting visual cues that are particular to the habitat in which they are found. This system is however dynamic, allowing them to operate equally well even in the absence of the cue given the greatest relative weight by the particular species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:40:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-758f2ab82f004f5897e20faa0bfb7646 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:40:02Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-758f2ab82f004f5897e20faa0bfb76462023-11-21T23:00:22ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502021-06-0112652610.3390/insects12060526Compass Cue Integration and Its Relation to the Visual Ecology of Three Tribes of Ball-Rolling Dung BeetlesLana Khaldy0Claudia Tocco1Marcus Byrne2Marie Dacke3Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 223 62 Lund, SwedenLund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 223 62 Lund, SwedenSchool of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witswatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 2000, South AfricaLund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 223 62 Lund, SwedenTo guide their characteristic straight-line orientation away from the dung pile, ball-rolling dung beetles steer according to directional information provided by celestial cues, which, among the most relevant are the sun and polarised skylight. Most studies regarding the use of celestial cues and their influence on the orientation system of the diurnal ball-rolling beetle have been performed on beetles of the tribe Scarabaeini living in open habitats. These beetles steer primarily according to the directional information provided by the sun. In contrast, <i>Sisyphus fasciculatus</i>, a species from a different dung-beetle tribe (the Sisyphini) that lives in habitats with closely spaced trees and tall grass, relies predominantly on directional information from the celestial pattern of polarised light. To investigate the influence of visual ecology on the relative weight of these cues, we studied the orientation strategy of three different tribes of dung beetles (Scarabaeini, Sisyphini and Gymnopleurini) living within the same biome, but in different habitat types. We found that species within a tribe share the same orientation strategy, but that this strategy differs across the tribes; Scarabaeini, living in open habitats, attribute the greatest relative weight to the directional information from the sun; Sisyphini, living in closed habitats, mainly relies on directional information from polarised skylight; and Gymnopleurini, also living in open habitats, appear to weight both cues equally. We conclude that, despite exhibiting different body size, eye size and morphology, dung beetles nevertheless manage to solve the challenge of straight-line orientation by weighting visual cues that are particular to the habitat in which they are found. This system is however dynamic, allowing them to operate equally well even in the absence of the cue given the greatest relative weight by the particular species.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/6/526orientationorientation strategyvisual ecologydung beetlecompass cues |
| spellingShingle | Lana Khaldy Claudia Tocco Marcus Byrne Marie Dacke Compass Cue Integration and Its Relation to the Visual Ecology of Three Tribes of Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles Insects orientation orientation strategy visual ecology dung beetle compass cues |
| title | Compass Cue Integration and Its Relation to the Visual Ecology of Three Tribes of Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles |
| title_full | Compass Cue Integration and Its Relation to the Visual Ecology of Three Tribes of Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles |
| title_fullStr | Compass Cue Integration and Its Relation to the Visual Ecology of Three Tribes of Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Compass Cue Integration and Its Relation to the Visual Ecology of Three Tribes of Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles |
| title_short | Compass Cue Integration and Its Relation to the Visual Ecology of Three Tribes of Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles |
| title_sort | compass cue integration and its relation to the visual ecology of three tribes of ball rolling dung beetles |
| topic | orientation orientation strategy visual ecology dung beetle compass cues |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/6/526 |
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