Meeting Abstract
The ability to effectively navigate and home is an essential behavior for animals that wander in search for food or mates and has been widely studied in a variety of different species. Nocturnal whip spiders home after traveling on the forest floor and up various tree trunks, which makes them ideal animals to study navigation mechanisms used in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. Previous research into the sensory capabilities of whip spiders suggests that olfactory cues play a significant role in homing while visual cues are minimally involved. The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first was to examine homing fidelity on a vertical surface under laboratory conditions. The second was to examine the underlying homing strategies these animals use to return to a shelter. Phrynus pseudoparvulus were placed individually in an arena with nine different possible shelters positioned on a vertical plane. Phase I of the experiment allowed an animal to home freely for three days, where only one shelter was open (designated the home shelter). In phase II of the experiment, the other eight shelters were opened, and nightly shelter occupancy was determined. In phase III, the home shelter was swapped with the location of an alternative shelter as an animal explored the arena to create cue conflicts. Preliminary results reveal that whip spiders show homing fidelity in phase I and II of the experiments. Within the cue conflict phase, individuals initially homed, which indicates the potential use of self-deposited chemical cues that emanated from the home shelter. After the first day of phase III, however, individuals were inconsistent in following the home shelter. This work indicates that whip spiders probably use multiple sensory cues to relocate shelters.
