Wolfgang Rössler

Wolfgang Rössler
University of Wuerzburg | JMU · Behavioral Physiology & Sociobiology (Zoology II) Biocenter

Prof. Dr.

About

211
Publications
39,833
Reads
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Citations
Introduction
What are the neuronal adaptations promoting social behavior in insects? Projects in my lab focus on olfaction, multisensory navigation, and behavioral plasticity. Using ants and bees as experimental models, we study neuronal mechanisms underlying olfactory perception, spatial orientation, and memory related plasticity. We combine behavioral experiments and manipulations, 3D brain imaging (confocal and 2-photon), molecular neuroanatomy, neurocircuit tracing, and electrophysiology.
Additional affiliations
October 2011 - present
University of Wuerzburg
Position
  • Dean Faculty of Biology
October 2011 - January 2024
University of Wuerzburg
Position
  • Chair
October 2001 - September 2011
University of Wuerzburg
Position
  • Professor in Neuroethology

Publications

Publications (211)
Article
Full-text available
DOWNLOAD: https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0166-2236(23)00082-6 Cataglyphis desert ants are skilled visual navigators. Here, I present a brief overview of multisensory learning and neuronal plasticity in ants, with a particular focus on the transition from the dark nest interior to performing first foraging trips. This highlights desert ant...
Article
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Honey bees (Apis mellifera) express remarkable social interactions and cognitive capabilities that have been studied extensively. In many cases, behavioral studies were accompanied by neurophysiological and neuroanatomical investigations. While most studies have focused on primary sensory neuropils, such as the optic lobes or antennal lobes, and ma...
Article
LINK: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2320764121 Many animal species rely on the Earth’s magnetic field during navigation, but where in the brain magnetic information is processed is still unknown. To unravel this, we manipulated the natural magnetic field at the nest entrance of Cataglyphis desert ants and investigated how this affects rele...
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The evolutionary changes from solitary to eusocial living in vertebrates and invertebrates are associated with the diversification of social interactions and the development of queen and worker castes. Despite strong innate patterns, our understanding of the mechanisms manifesting these sophisticated behaviors is still rudimentary. Here, we show th...
Article
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Spatial orientation based on the geomagnetic field (GMF) is a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom, predominantly observed in long-distance migrating birds,1 sea turtles,2 lobsters,3 and Lepidoptera. 4,5 Although magnetoreception has been studied intensively, the mechanism remains elusive. A crucial question for a mechanistic understanding o...
Article
The Editors’ and Readers’ Choice Awards were established in 2022 to celebrate some of the outstanding articles published every year in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A. The recipients of the 2024 Editors’ Choice Awards were selected based on votes cast by the Editorial Board on articles published in 2023. In the category Original Paper, this...
Article
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Animals form a behavioral decision by evaluating sensory evidence on the background of past experiences and the momentary motivational state. In insects, we still lack understanding of how and at which stage of the recurrent sensory-motor pathway behavioral decisions are formed. The mushroom body (MB), a central brain structure in insects1 and crus...
Article
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The diffraction limit of light microscopy poses a problem that is frequently faced in structural analyses of social insect brains. With the introduction of expansion microscopy (ExM), a tool became available to overcome this limitation by isotropic physical expansion of preserved specimens. Our analyses focus on synaptic microcircuits (microglomeru...
Article
During the 99 years of its history, the Journal of Comparative Physiology A has published many of the most influential papers in comparative physiology and related disciplines. To celebrate this achievement of the journal’s authors, annual Editors’ Choice Awards and Readers’ Choice Awards are presented. The winners of the 2023 Editors’ Choice Award...
Article
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Efficient spatial orientation in the natural environment is crucial for the survival of most animal species. Cataglyphis desert ants possess excellent navigational skills. After far-ranging foraging excursions, the ants return to their inconspicuous nest entrance using celestial and panoramic cues. This review focuses on the question about how naïv...
Preprint
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Animal behavioral decisions are dynamically formed by evaluating momentary sensory evidence on the background of individual experience and the acute motivational state. In insects, the mushroom body (MB) has been implicated in forming associative memories and in assessing the appetitive or aversive valence of sensory stimuli to bias approach versus...
Article
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Curiosity-driven research is fundamental for neuroethology and depends crucially on governmental funding. Here, we highlight similarities and differences in funding of curiosity-driven research across countries by comparing two major funding agencies—the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States and the German Research Foundation ( Deu...
Article
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Multisensory integration plays a central role in perception, as all behaviors usually require the input of different sensory signals. For instance, for a foraging honeybee the association of a food source includes the combination of olfactory and visual cues to be categorized as a flower. Moreover, homing after successful foraging using celestial c...
Article
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The flexible plasticity of developing nervous systems has been well-documented in a variety of animal species. Adult nervous systems maintain the ability to make structural rearrangements under certain conditions. Generally, invertebrate nervous systems are thought to be less flexible than vertebrate nervous systems, but some surprising examples of...
Article
This year marks the inauguration of the annual Editors' Choice Award and the Readers' Choice Award, each presented for outstanding original papers and review articles published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A. The winners of the 2022 Editors' Choice Award were determined by vote of the Editorial Board for the most highly recommended pape...
Article
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Many animals use celestial cues for impressive navigational performances in challenging habitats. Since the position of the sun and associated skylight cues change throughout the day and season, it is crucial to correct for these changes. Cataglyphis desert ants possess a time-compensated skylight compass allowing them to navigate back to their nes...
Article
For navigation, animals use a robust internal compass. Compass navigation is crucial for long-distance migrating animals like monarch butterflies, which use the sun to navigate over 4,000 km to their overwintering sites every fall. Sun-compass neurons of the central complex have only been recorded in immobile butterflies, and experimental evidence...
Article
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Solitary foraging insects, such as ants, maintain an estimate of the direction and distance to their starting location as they move away from it, in a process known as path integration. This estimate, commonly known as the “home vector,” is updated continuously as the ant moves1, 2, 3, 4 and is reset as soon as it enters its nest,⁵ yet ants prevent...
Article
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At the beginning of their foraging careers, Cataglyphis desert ants calibrate their compass systems and learn the visual panorama surrounding the nest entrance. For that, they perform well-structured initial learning walks. During rotational body movements (pirouettes), naïve ants (novices) gaze back to the nest entrance to memorize their way back...
Article
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Cataglyphis desert ants are charismatic central place foragers. After long-ranging foraging trips, individual workers navigate back to their nest relying mostly on visual cues. The reproductive caste faces other orientation challenges, i.e. mate finding and colony foundation. Here we compare brain structures involved in spatial orientation of Catag...
Article
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Age-related behavioral plasticity is a major prerequisite for the ecological success of insect societies. Although ecological aspects of behavioral flexibility have been targeted in many studies, the underlying intrinsic mechanisms controlling the diverse changes in behavior along the individual life history of social insects are not completely und...
Article
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The Johnston’s organ (JO) in the insect antenna is a multisensory organ involved in several navigational tasks including wind-compass orientation, flight control, graviception, and, possibly, magnetoreception. Here we investigate the three dimensional anatomy of the JO and its neuronal projections into the brain of the desert ant Cataglyphis, a mar...
Article
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The cover image is based on the Research Article Johnston's organ and its central projections in Cataglyphis desert ants by Robin Grob et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.25077.
Preprint
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Head direction can be represented in a self-centered egocentric or a viewpoint-invariant allocentric reference frame. Using the most efficient representation is especially crucial for migrating animals, like monarch butterflies ( Danaus plexippus ) that use the sun for orientation. With tetrode recordings from the brain of tethered flying monarch b...
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Behavioral flexibility is an important cornerstone for the ecological success of animals. Social Cataglyphis nodus ants with their age‐related polyethism characterized by age‐related behavioral phenotypes represent a prime example for behavioral flexibility. We propose neuropeptides as powerful candidates for the flexible modulation of age‐related...
Article
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In the course of a screen designed to produce antibodies (ABs) with affinity to proteins in the honey bee brain we found an interesting AB that detects a highly specific epitope predominantly in the nuclei of Kenyon cells (KCs). The observed staining pattern is unique, and its unfamiliarity indicates a novel previously unseen nuclear structure that...
Article
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Olfactory circuits change structurally and physiologically during development and adult life. This allows insects to respond to olfactory cues in an appropriate and adaptive way according to their physiological and behavioral state, and to adapt to their specific abiotic and biotic natural environment. We highlight here findings on olfactory plasti...
Article
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The use of information provided by the geomagnetic field (GMF) for navigation is widespread across the animal kingdom. At the same time, the magnetic sense is one of the least understood senses. Here, we review evidence for magnetoreception in Hymenoptera. We focus on experiments aiming to shed light on the role of the GMF for navigation. Both hone...
Article
Full-text available
Cataglyphis ants are known for their outstanding navigational abilities. They return to their inconspicuous nest after far‐reaching foraging trips using path integration, and whenever available, learn and memorize visual features of panoramic sceneries. To achieve this, the ants combine directional visual information from celestial cues and panoram...
Article
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Erfolgreiche Orientierung im Raum ist essentiell für den Menschen sowie für fast alle Tierarten. Im Alltag verlassen wir uns z. B. auf Wegweiser, Landkarten oder GPSGeräte. Auch Tiere müssen oft ferne Ziele erreichen, beispielsweise ihr Nest oder einen Futterplatz. Während ihrer saisonalen Migration legen Zugvögel und Meeresschildkröten, aber auch...
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Zusammenfassung Erfolgreiche räumliche Orientierung ist für viele Tiere eine alltägliche Herausforderung. Cataglyphis ‐Wüstenameisen sind bekannt für ihre Navigationsfähigkeiten, mit deren Hilfe sie nach langen Futtersuchläufen problemlos zum Nest zurückfinden. Wie aber nehmen naive Ameisen ihre Navigationssysteme in Betrieb? Nach mehrwöchigem Inne...
Preprint
Full-text available
Cataglyphis ants are known for their outstanding navigational abilities. They return to their inconspicuous nest after far-reaching foraging trips using path integration, and whenever available, learn and memorize visual features of panoramic sceneries. To achieve this, the ants combine directional visual information from celestial cues and panoram...
Article
Full-text available
Mushroom bodies (MBs) are multisensory integration centers in the insect brain involved in learning and memory formation. In the honeybee, the main sensory input region (calyx) of MBs is comparatively large and receives input from mainly olfactory and visual senses, but also from gustatory/tactile modalities. Behavioral plasticity following differe...
Article
Many aphid species reproduce parthenogenetically throughout most of the year, with individuals having identical genomes. Nevertheless, aphid clones display a marked polyphenism with associated behavioural differences. Pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum), when crowded, produce winged individuals, which have a larger dispersal range than wingless indivi...
Article
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Honeybees use visual and olfactory cues to detect flowers during foraging trips. Hence, the reward association of a nectar source is a multimodal construct which has at least two major components – olfactory and visual cues. How both sensory modalities are integrated to form a common reward association and whether and how they may interfere, is an...
Article
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Navigating through the environment is a challenging task that animals cope with on a daily basis. Many animal species have impressive capabilities to navigate in complex or even harsh environments. Cataglyphis desert ants are a famous example. These ants use a remarkable navigational repertoire to find their way home after far-reaching foraging tri...
Article
Division of labor among workers is a key feature of social insects and frequently characterized by an age‐related transition between tasks, which is accompanied by considerable structural changes in higher brain centers. Bumble bees (Bombus terrestris), in contrast, exhibit a size‐related rather than an age‐related task allocation, and thus workers...
Article
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Colour processing at early stages of visual pathways is a topic of intensive study both in vertebrate and invertebrate species. However, it is still unclear how colour learning and memory formation affects an insect brain in the peripheral processing stages and high-order integration centres, and whether associative colour experiences are reflected...
Article
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Social insects show complex behaviors and master cognitive tasks. The underlying neuronal mechanisms, however, are in most cases only poorly understood due to challenges in monitoring brain activity in freely moving animals. Immediate early genes (IEGs) that get rapidly and transiently expressed following neuronal stimulation provide a powerful too...
Presentation
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--a. Link to a Photoblog with photographs by P Fleischmann, R Grob and W Rössler showing Cataglyphis field experiments in Tunisia and Greece: Studying the ontogeny of navigational behavior in desert ants. Myrmecology News Blog. Photoblog----------- https://blog.myrmecologicalnews.org/2019/01/09/studying-the-ontogeny-of-navigational-behavior-in-dese...
Article
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Ants express a remarkable behavioral plasticity ranging far beyond rigid stimulus-response relationships. This review highlights the role of adult neuronal plasticity (neuroplasticity) in ant brains related to behavioral changes at the transition from tasks inside the nest to outdoor foraging. The focus is on desert ants of the genus Cataglyphis Fo...
Article
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Within the powerful navigational toolkit implemented in desert ants, path integration and landmark guidance are the key routines. Here, we use cue-conflict experiments to investigate the interplay between these two routines in ants, Cataglyphis noda, which start their foraging careers (novices) with learning walks and are then tested at different s...
Article
Desert ants (Cataglyphis) are famous insect navigators. During their foraging lives, the ants leave their underground colonies for long distances and return to their starting point with fair accuracy [1, 2]. Their incessantly running path integrator provides them with a continually updated home vector [3–5]. Directional input to their path integrat...
Article
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Flowers attract pollinating insects like honeybees by sophisticated compositions of olfactory and visual cues. Using honeybees as a model to study olfactory–visual integration at the neuronal level, we focused on mushroom body (MB) output neurons (MBON). From a neuronal circuit perspective, MBONs represent a prominent level of sensory-modality conv...
Data
Recording mushroom body output neurons at the ventral vertical lobe of the honeybee
Article
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The honeybee olfactory pathway comprises an intriguing pattern of convergence and divergence: ~60.000 olfactory sensory neurons (OSN) convey olfactory information on ~900 projection neurons (PN) in the antennal lobe (AL). To transmit this information reliably, PNs employ relatively high spiking frequencies with complex patterns. PNs project via a d...
Article
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Central place foragers are faced with the challenge to learn the position of their nest entrance in its surroundings, in order to find their way back home every time they go out to search for food. To acquire navigational information at the beginning of their foraging career, Cataglyphis noda performs learning walks during the transition from inter...
Article
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Ants are a well-characterized insect model for the study of visual learning and orientation, but the extent to which colour vision is involved in these tasks remains unknown.We investigated the colour preference, learning and memory retention of Camponotus blandus foragers under controlled laboratory conditions. Our results show that C. blandus for...
Article
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A recent study by Peng and Yang in Scientific Reports using confocal-microscopy based automated quantification of anti-synapsin labeled microglomeruli in the mushroom bodies of honeybee brains reports potentially incorrect numbers of microglomerular densities. Whereas several previous studies using visually supervised or automated counts from confo...
Article
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Tyramine is an important neurotransmitter, neuromodulator, and neurohormone in insects. In honeybees, it is assumed to have functions in modulating sensory responsiveness and controlling motor behavior. Tyramine can bind to two characterized receptors in honeybees, both of which are coupled to intracellular cAMP pathways. How tyramine acts on neuro...
Article
Cataglyphis desert ants are famous navigators. Like all central place foragers, they are confronted with the challenge to return home, i.e. relocate an inconspicuous nest entrance in the ground, after their extensive foraging trips. When leaving the underground nest for the first time, desert ants perform a striking behavior, so-called learning wal...
Article
Array Tomography (AT) is a relatively easy-to-use and yet powerful method to put molecular identity in its full ultrastructural context. Ultrathin sections are stained with fluorophores and then imaged by light and afterward by electron microscopy to obtain a correlated view of a region of interest: its ultrastructure and specific staining. By comb...
Article
Tyramine is an important neurotransmitter, neuromodulator, and neurohormone in insects. In honeybees, it is assumed to have functions in modulating sensory responsiveness and controlling motor behavior. Tyramine can bind to two characterized receptors in honeybees, both of which are coupled to intracellular cAMP pathways. How tyramine acts on neuro...
Article
Full-text available
Immediate early genes (IEGs) are a group of rapidly and transiently expressed genes that are induced by cellular stimulation, such as neuronal activation, and do not rely on de novo protein synthesis. Based on these characteristics, IEGs are used as markers for localizing neuronal activation in vertebrate brains. However, whether their orthologs in...
Article
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When tasting food, animals rely on chemical and tactile cues, which determine the animal’s decision on whether or not to eat food. As food nutritional composition has enormous consequences for the survival of animals, food items should generally be tasted before they are eaten or collected for later consumption. Even though recent studies confirmed...
Article
Cataglyphis desert ants exhibit an age-related polyethism with ants performing tasks in the dark nest for the first ∼4 weeks of their adult life before they switch to visually based long-distance navigation to forage. While behavioral and sensory aspects of this transition have been studied, the internal factors triggering the behavioral changes ar...
Article
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On September 6, 2015, our dear colleague, teacher and mentor Klaus Kalmring, former professor of neurophysiology at Philipps-University in Marburg, Germany, passed away after a long illness at age 84. He is survived by his wife Elke and two sons, Stefan and Dirk, and their families.
Article
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Honeybees learn color information of rewarding flowers and recall these memories in future decisions. For fine color discrimination, bees require differential conditioning with a concurrent presentation of target and distractor stimuli to form a long-term memory. Here we investigated whether the long-term storage of color information shapes the neu...
Data
Behavioral data and neuroanatomical measures. (CSV)
Article
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While the ability of honeybees to navigate relying on sky-compass information has been investigated in a large number of behavioral studies, the underlying neuronal system has so far received less attention. The sky-compass pathway has recently been described from its input region, the dorsal rim area (DRA) of the compound eye, to the anterior opti...
Article
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The cover image, by Ayse Yilmaz et al., is based on the Research Article Age-related and light-induced plasticity in opsin gene expression and in primary and secondary visual centers of the nectar-feeding ant Camponotus rufipes, DOI: 10.1002/dneu.22374.
Article
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At the beginning of their foraging lives, desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis) are for the first time exposed to the visual world within which they henceforth must accomplish their navigational tasks. Their habitat, North African salt pans, are barren, and the nest entrance, a tiny hole in the ground, is almost invisible. Although natural landmarks are...
Article
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Light is a powerful environmental stimulus of special importance in social honey bees that undergo a behavioral transition from in-hive to outdoor foraging duties. Our previous work has shown that light exposure induces structural neuronal plasticity in the mushroom bodies (MBs), a brain center implicated in processing inputs from sensory modalitie...
Article
Animals face highly complex and dynamic olfactory stimuli in their natural environments, which require fast and reliable olfactory processing. Parallel processing is a common principle of sensory systems supporting this task, for example in visual and auditory systems, but its role in olfaction remained unclear. Studies in the honeybee focused on a...