Abstract
The ability of animals to learn and remember underpins many behavioural actions and can be crucial for survival in certain contexts, for example in finding and recognising a habitual refuge. The sensory cues that an animal learns in such situations are to an extent determined by its own sensory specialisations. Whip spiders (Arachnida, Amblypygi) are nocturnal and possess uniquely specialised sensory systems that include elongated ‘antenniform’ forelegs specialised for use as chemo- and mechanosensory feelers. We tested the tactile learning abilities of the whip spider Phrynus marginemaculatus in a maze learning task with two tactile cues of different texture—one associated with an accessible refuge, and the other with an inaccessible refuge. Over ten training trials, whip spiders got faster and more accurate at finding the accessible refuge. During a subsequent test trial where both refuges were inaccessible, whip spiders searched for significantly longer at the tactile cue previously associated with the accessible refuge. Using high-speed cinematography, we describe three distinct antenniform leg movements used by whip spiders during tactile examination. We discuss the potential importance of tactile learning in whip spider behaviour and a possible role for their unique giant sensory neurons in accessing tactile information.
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Abbreviations
- CS:
-
Conditioned stimulus
- fps:
-
Frames per second
- GN:
-
Giant neuron
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Acknowledgments
We thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Key Deer Refuge for permitting whip spider collection; D.P. Franklin for help conducting preliminary observations; K.A. Swoboda for animal care; D.J. Wilgers for calibrating illumination in our experimental arena; and R.M. Adams, K.D. Fowler-Finn, A.S. Rundus, S.K. Schwartz, C.A. Wei, D.J. Wilgers, and R.H. Willemart for comments on this manuscript. This work was funded by a Searle Foundation Scholars grant to E.A. Hebets. These experiments comply with the ‘Principles of animal care’, publication No. 86-23, revised 1985 of the National Institute of Health, and also with the current laws of the United States of America.
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Santer, R.D., Hebets, E.A. Tactile learning by a whip spider, Phrynus marginemaculatus C.L. Koch (Arachnida, Amblypygi). J Comp Physiol A 195, 393–399 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-009-0417-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-009-0417-8