A Neotropical armored harvestman (Arachnida, Opiliones) uses proprioception and vision for homing

Autor(es)

dos Santos Silva, Norton Felipe ^{[1, 2]} ; Fowler-Finn, Kasey ^[3] ; Mortara, Sara Ribeiro ^[4] ; Willemart, Rodrigo Hirata ^{[1, 2, 5]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Evolucao, Campus Diadema, Rua Prof Artur Riedel 275, BR-09972270 Diadema, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Escola Artes Ciencias & Humanidades, Lab Ecol Sensorial & Comportamento Artropodes, Ave Arlindo Bettio 1000, BR-03828000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] St Louis Univ, Dept Biol, 3507 Laclede Ave, St Louis, MO 63103 - USA

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Programa Posgrad Ecol, Rua Matao 321, Travessa 14, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Programa Posgrad Zool, Rua Matao 101, Travessa 14, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: BEHAVIOUR; v. 155, n. 10-12, p. 793-815, JAN 2018.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Animals use external and/or internal cues to navigate and can show flexibility in cue use if one type of cue is unavailable. We studied the homing ability of the harvestman Heteromitobates dis-color (Arachnida, Opiliones) by moving egg-guarding females from their clutches. We tested the importance of vision, proprioception, and olfaction. We predicted that homing would be negatively affected in the absence of these cues, with success being measured by the return of females to their clutches. We restricted proprioception by not allowing females to walk, removed vision by painting the eyes, and removed the odours by removing the clutch and cleaning its surroundings. We found that vision is important for homing, and in the absence of visual cues, proprioception is important. Finally, we found increased homing when eggs were present, and that the time of the day also influenced homing. We highlight vision as a previously overlooked sensory modality in Opiliones. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/00915-0 - Comunicação química em opiliões (Arachnida, Opiliones): morfologia, comportamento e química
• Beneficiário: Rodrigo Hirata Willemart
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores