Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Contrasting Background Conditions for Aggregation in Planaria

Nature volume 220, pages 258–260 (1968)Cite this article

Abstract

PLANARIA are known to form large aggregations in the laboratory and in the wild1. One of us (J. H. R.) has shown2 that planaria aggregate in conditions of homogeneous illumination, in the dark and when two species are maintained together, differentially according to species. Furthermore, the effect is general, being found in several species of planaria3. These results support a pheromone or chemotaxis interpretation of aggregation formation in which planaria presumably secrete chemical substances to which planaria are positively chemotactic.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Pearl, R., Quart. J. Microsc. Sci., 46, 509 (1903). Walter, H. E., J. Exp. Zool., 5, 35 (1907). Allee, W. C., Animal Aggregations (University of Chicago Press, 1931).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Reynierse, J. H., Animal Behav., 14, 246 (1966); 15, 270 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Reynierse, J. H., and Ellis, R. R., Nature, 214, 895 (1967).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Fraenkel, G. S., and Gunn, D. L., The Orientation of Animals (Dover Publications, 1961).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Siegel, S., Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (McGraw-Hill, 1956).

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Tinbergen, N., Social Behaviour in Animals (Methuen, 1953).

    Google Scholar 

  7. von Frisch, K., The Dance Language and Orientation of Bees (Harvard University Press, 1967). Lindauer, M., Communication Among Social Bees (Atheneum, 1967).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Jacobson, A. L., Psychol. Bull., 60, 74 (1963). Best, J. B., in Learning and Associated Phenomena in Invertebrates (edit. by Thorpe, W. H., and Davenport, D.) (Baillière, Tindall and Cassell, 1964).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Jensen, D. D., in Learning and Associated Phenomena in Invertebrates (edit. by Thorpe, W. H., and Davenport, D.) (Baillière, Tindall and Cassell, 1964).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska

    JAMES H. REYNIERSE & MICHAEL J. SCAVIO

Authors
  1. JAMES H. REYNIERSE
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. MICHAEL J. SCAVIO
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

REYNIERSE, J., SCAVIO, M. Contrasting Background Conditions for Aggregation in Planaria. Nature 220, 258–260 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/220258a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/220258a0

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing