Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Basic Ants olfactory system

Powerful Essays
459 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Basic Ants olfactory system
400 distinct odorant receptors
Special proteins detecting different odors
Complex olfactory system:
Odorant receptors: identify different aromatic compounds and pheromones, and most dominant in ants
Gustatory receptors: distinguish between different tastes and react to some pheromones
Ionotropic glutamate receptors: narrowly tune to various poisonous and toxic compounds
Two species will not have the same number of receptors, because of the difference of two species in terms of lifestyle
Differences also are distinct in sex
Olfactory senses are present for chemical communication
Different ants mean different lifestyles
Distinct sense of smell determines themselves from other ants
Ants use their antennae to detect odors. The antennae contain hairs that have nerve cells, at least a few thousand of these aforementioned cells. Special chemicals called pheromones differ in smell depending on the colony, therefore used as a way of communication, these chemicals are picked up with the antennae.
Ants can recall the smells
Nutrition of ants usually come from greasy, starchy, and sweet foods
Black ants are usually the ones in to human foods while red ants are in to natural foods such as leaves, other insects, or even birds and dead insects
Honeydew, the sweet waste product of insects such as aphids, is another thing most ants are attracted to for eating
Sweet scent is the strongest of the scents, and this makes them the easiest to be accessed
Also, differing in the species, some will need more proteins, because of the factors including the difference of their physiology from one species to another, their diet in general, habitat, and as well as their environment
Preferences will vary according to species, anatomy, sex, lifestyle, general diet, and habitat

Sources: Salisbury, David. (September 10, 2012.) Ants have an exceptionally high-def sense of smell. Research news@Vanderbilt.com. Retrieved on January 26, 2014. http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/09/ants-have-an-exceptionally-high-def-sense-of-smell/. Zhou, Xioafan. (August 30, 2012.) Phylogenetic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Chemosensory Receptors in a Pair of Divergent Ant Species Reveals Sex-Specific Signatures of Odor Coding. Plosgenetics.com. Retrieved on January 26, 2014. http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1002930. Hansen, Lauren D. (September 6, 2012.) The Three Most Common Ant Species. Pestworld.com. Retrieved on January 26, 2014. http://www.pestworld.org/news-and-views/guest-columnists/posts/the-three-most-common-ant-species/. AntAsk. (October 8, 2013.) AntBlog.com. Retrieved on January 26, 2014. http://www.antweb.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=smell. Marks, Gabrielle. (n.d.) Can Ants Smell? EarthSky, (September 23, 2009) How sensitive is an ant’s sense of smell? Earthsky.org. Retrieved January 26, 2014. http://earthsky.org/earth/how-sensitive-is-an-ants-sense-of-smell. Reddy. (2006). How do ants smell? Askville.amazon.com. Retrieved January 26, 2014. http://askville.amazon.com/ants-smell/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=90453. (no author, no date.) ANTS. Trafficpestsolutions.com. Retrieved January 26, 2014. http://trafficpestsolutions.com/ants.html. (no author.) April 26, 2011. Ants are very fond of sweets. Library.thinkquest.org.
Retrieved on January 26, 2014. http://library.thinkquest.org/10aug-oracle-62/673602905/page_679753451.html.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Nt1330 Exercise 1.1

    • 1895 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Ants may lay pheromone trails when travelling from the nest to food, or from food to the nest, or when travelling in either direction depending on the species. They also follow these trails with a allegiance which is a function of the trail strength, among other variables. Ants drop pheromones as they walk by stopping briefly and touching their gaster, which carries the pheromone secreting gland, on the ground. The strength of the trail they lay is a function of the rate at which they make deposits, and the amount per deposit. Since pheromones evaporate and diffuse away, the strength of the trail when it is encountered by another ant is a function of the original strength, and the time since the trail…

    • 1895 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unknown A (Module 11A)

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nevertheless, the similarity of odor to different compounds can be a source of error. For instance, the way humans detect odors is due to the presence of seven different receptors in the olfactory area. When smelling different compounds, some odor chemicals bind with olfactory receptors easily, and other odors need more time to bind with receptors. Therefore, after smelling different compounds one after the other, the receptors can be altered and associate the previous odor with the next one, mixing the smell and making difficult to distinguish correctly the respective odor. For this reason, perfume stores recommend to smell coffee beans between fragrances as a nose-clearing…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Antz Movie - Sociology

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    An example of social mobility in the movie is when “Z” and his friend, Weaver the soldier, switch jobs before the royal review. This change can be though of as vertical mobility since “Z’s” rank is considered to be upward and Weaver’s downward.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Biology Module 5.02

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the beginning there is the same number of population. Over time the lighter colored prey survived longer.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dual Inner Observations

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The olfactory epithelium is located in the nasal passage and is lined by olfactory receptors, which consist of golf protein that can be stimulated by odor molecules. When stimulated, the golf protein stimulates the release of a cyclic AMP catalyzing enzymes. Upon catalyzing, the cyclic AMP acts as a transmitter signaling the opening of sodium ion channels resulting in depolarization of the receptor cells. Olfactory sensory information travels from the axon through the cribriform plate holes and mitral cell synapse. The mitral cells are located in the olfactory bulbs encompassing the olfactory tract.…

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sowbug Report

    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages

    -Arthropods use pheromones, this includes sowbugs and cockroaches. Chemical signals are picked up by antennae.…

    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gas Laws

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Properties: Baking Soda is odorless and can be used as an antacid because of the Bicarbonate ion.…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ap bio write up

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Organisms orient to certain stimuli that are important to their survival. Movement toward or away from important stimuli depends upon both the sensory and motor abilities of the organism. An organism that senses an optimal food source will usually rely on smell. The movement toward the food source would be called a positive chemotaxi.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    extinguishment of an aversive reaction, (Brink, n.d.). Automobiles are prime areas for smells if they are not…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Do We Do This?

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages

    limbs and from receptors from the special senses of vision, hearing, taste, and smell to the…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Your Inner FIsh

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Dispute: There are few genes dedicated to olfactory sense and they are similar in all organisms capable of detecting smell.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Free Trial

    • 6054 Words
    • 25 Pages

    T F 8. Smell is a distant cue of the presence of objects before a person has an actual contact with.…

    • 6054 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Termite Lab Report

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages

    References: "Termites & Pheromones for Control." Termite Control. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.termite-control.com/methods/approaches/termites-pheromones-for-control/>.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fire Ants

    • 2187 Words
    • 9 Pages

    the ships once they had sailed from South America to the ports of Alabama (2.…

    • 2187 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One is the largest of its kind and the largest of all land dwelling meateaters. The other's diet is more than ninety-nine percent meat, and it is larger…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics