DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN ELEMENTARY ORIENTATION MECHANISMS BY MEANS OF PATH-ANALYSIS

It is not always possible to tell by analysing the environmental factors and an organism's receptors whether this organism has reached a given target by chance after making an unoriented movement, or by using one of two types of elementary orientation mechanism, namely taxis and differential klinokinesis. In this paper the main characteristics of these two orientation mechanisms are described. It is then shown how a statistical analysis of the organism's path can be performed to determine which of these two mechanisms is likely to be involved. This type of analysis is illustrated by means of three examples: two simulated paths, one involving taxis and the other differential klinokinesis, and an actual foraging ant's path. © 1992 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.