Homing in the field cricket,Gryllus campestris

Homing ability of the cricket Gryllus campestriswas experimentally studied in the field after passive and active displacements. Whatever the weather conditions and the nature of the displacement, crickets (18/18) home directly when they are located between 5 and 15 cm from their burrow by performing real-time orientation. When moved by the experimenter between 15 and 55 cm away from home, some crickets (26/43) can retrieve their burrow by systematic searching only after winding inward trips but they get lost (0/18) beyond 55 cm. After self-generated movements between 5 and 85 cm away from home, crickets (33/35) return to their burrow under blue sky, but they cannot home as well under overcast sky (22/34 from 5 to 65 cm and 0/5 beyond). The volatile memory orientation system allowing path integration is based on the polarized skylight of the sun.