M. De Agro

Acute exposure to caffeine improves navigation in an invasive ant

This study shows that moderate caffeine exposure improves learning in Argentine ants during foraging tasks, but not homing behavior, with dose-dependent effects.

Eye-specific detection and a multi-eye integration model of biological motion perception

This study shows jumping spiders use specific eye pairs to detect biological motion and integrate signals across eyes to discriminate motion patterns.

Habituation to visual stimuli is personality-independent in a jumping spider

This study tests if personality affects habituation and dishabituation in jumping spiders, finding no link between personality and learning.

Study replication: Shape discrimination in a conditioning procedure on the jumping spider Phidippus regius

This paper replicates a study on shape discrimination in jumping spiders, finding similar trends but non-significant results, emphasizing the need for replication and automated scoring.

Separate attentional processes in the two visual systems of jumping spiders

The paper investigates attentional processes in jumping spiders' visual systems, finding that attention is segregated across eyes rather than shared.

Bundling and segregation affects "liking", but not "wanting", in an insect

This study shows that bundling affects pheromone deposition (liking) but not odor choice (wanting) in ants, revealing a dissociation between liking and wanting in an insect.

Bees differentiate sucrose solution from water at a distance

This study shows bumblebees can distinguish sucrose solution from water at a distance, suggesting spectral differences are the primary mechanism for this discrimination.

Young chicks rely on perceptual grouping to discriminate prime numbers

The paper shows that newborn chicks can distinguish prime from composite numbers by preferring prime-numbered sets, suggesting a perceptual grouping mechanism for numerical discrimination.

Irrational risk aversion in ants is driven by perceptual mechanisms

This study shows that individual ants exhibit strong risk aversion in foraging decisions, supporting perceptual mechanisms over rational decision-making models.