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Impact of environmental noise on insects’ physiology and ethology - A study on ants as models

par Cammaerts Tricot, Marie-Claire ;Cammaerts, Roger
Référence Biology, engineering and medicine, 3, 5, page (1-8)
Publication Publié, 2018-10-08

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

Noise is one of the environmental factors which can impact insects’ physiology and ethology. In the present work, we examined the effects of two kinds of noise: beats (42 and 200 beats per minute) and flowing water noise (a natural environmental sound) on ants’ (used as insect model) locomotion, orientation, audacity, tactile perception, brood caring behavior, aggressiveness against nestmates and against aliens, escaping behavior, cognition and short-term memory. We found that 42 and 200 BPM increased the ants’ sinuosity of movement, decreased their orientation capability, audacity, tactile perception, brood caring behavior, escaping ability, cognition and short-term memory, and induced slight aggressiveness against nestmates. On the contrary, flowing water noise did not affect the above cited physiological and ethological traits, and even somewhat enhanced some ones. Each experiment being short lasting, the impact of the experimentally added noise very quickly vanished after the noise was stopped. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that brutal, choppy noise adversely affects ants’ (and probably other organisms’) health (at least their physiology and ethology), and should thus be avoided in their vicinity, and that smooth calming noise has a beneficial impact on them, reducing stress and improving social relationship as well as cognition and memory for instance.