Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Environment → Animals

Researchers see the world through a wasp’s eyes, learn it flies backwards to find way home

To find its way home to the nest, a wasp will leave its own visual 'breadcrumps'. The wasp will ever so often fly backwards to see its environment as if it were traveling to the nest, and use this information later to make its way safely back.

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
February 15, 2016
in Animals, Biology, News

To find its way home to the nest, a wasp will leave its own visual ‘breadcrumps’. The wasp will ever so often fly backwards to see its environment as if it were traveling to the nest, and use this information later to make its way safely back.

Cerceris arenaria. Credit: rutkies.de
Cerceris arenaria. Credit: rutkies.de

To learn this, Professor Jochen Zeil from the Australian National University’s Research School of Biology and colleagues used two high-speed cameras to record the orientation flight of the female ground-nesting wasp Cerceris australis. The cameras recorded both the 3D path the insect took, but also the direction the wasp look at the time. Using this information, the researchers were able to reconstruct what the wasp must have been seeing during this whole time. The video below illustrates this precisely. “In a way we were sitting in cockpit of this animal while it was learning how the scene looks like around the nest on departure,” Dr Zeil said.

The video shows the wasp taking regular turns backwards to reconstruct the path it needs to take on its way to the nest. The compound eyes offer low resolution, but also a panoramic vision. It took the researchers ten years to finish this process, but it was worth it.

Flying in zig-zag offered the wasp a systematic view of its surroundings, which allowed for multiple correct paths home. To assess their hypothesis, Zeil and colleagues predicting the movements of wasps returning to their nest. and found these matched their predictions. Also, when they devised virtual wasps inside a computer model, only those wasps programmed with orientation flight data could be brought home, as reported in Current Biology.

“They look back at the nest from the viewpoint of their future return,” he said. “It’s a bit like when you leave a hotel in an unfamiliar environment. To make sure you recognise it when you come back, you turn back as you are leaving it. “It’s a very smart way of obtaining all the information you need to get back.”

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Swedish kids will learn programming from their first year in primary school. They’ll also learn how to spot fake news
  2. It’s got 16.000 eyes and they’re all pointed at you — the ancient animal with the most eyes
  3. Newly-discovered parasitoid wasps in South America can mind-control their victims
  4. World’s largest aircraft flies for the first time
  5. Why fruit flies can eat practically anything

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW