Maze Learning and Visual Discrimination in the Wood Ant ( Formica Rufa )

A technique is described for training ants in a T‐maze. The walls of the maze were covered with patterns which served as cues for the correct solution of the maze. These patterns were used to test the visual capabilities of the ant. It was found that ants would discriminate between vertical and horizontal stripes, and vertical and diagonal stripes, but not between diagonal stripes of opposite slope. In an experiment on generalization using vertical stripes of different widths, the ants appeared able to generalize satisfactorily. The implications of these experiments for insect pattern vision are discussed.