Data from: Texas field crickets (Gryllus texensis) use visual cues to place learn but perform poorly when intra- and extra-maze cues conflict

<p>Central place foraging field crickets are an ideal system for studying the adaptive value of learning and memory, but more research is needed on ecology-relevant cognition in these invertebrates. Here, we test the visuospatial place learning of Texas field crickets (<em>Gryllus texensis</em>) in a radial arm maze. Our study expands previous work on <em>G. texensis</em> cognition for accuracy measures and extends our previous findings on females to both sexes. Additionally, our study examines whether crickets use intra- or extra-maze cues to locate a food reward using a maze rotation putting the cues in conflict. We found that male and female crickets improved performance over trials when measured by accuracy variables but not latency variables; thigmotaxis negatively impacted performance in both sexes. In a reward-absent trial, both male and female crickets demonstrated place memory. When intra- and extra-maze cues conflicted during a rotation trial, crickets' performance was not better than chance. Our rotation results suggest that crickets may experience reciprocal overshadowing of conflicting cues – a result most often seen in other taxa with conflicting multi-modal cues. We conclude that crickets do not rely solely on: (1) a single-cue association; (2) route-following; or (3) their own scent cues to navigate the maze. Instead, male and female Texas field crickets seem to learn the location of the reward using a combination of proximal and distal cues. The possibility to test large numbers of wild-caught or laboratory-reared individuals opens the door to future investigations on the evolutionary ecology of visuospatial learning in these invertebrates.</p>