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Pattrick JG, Symington HA, Federle W, Glover BJ. Bumblebees negotiate a trade-off between nectar quality and floral biomechanics. iScience 2023; 26:108071. [PMID: 38107877 PMCID: PMC10725025 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
How and why pollinators choose which flowers to visit are fundamental, multifaceted questions in pollination biology, yet most studies of floral traits measure simple relative preferences. Here, we used vertically and horizontally oriented slippery-surfaced artificial flowers to test whether bumblebees could make a trade-off between floral handling difficulty and nectar sucrose concentration. We quantified foraging energetics, thereby resolving the rationale behind the bees' foraging decisions. The bees chose flowers with either a high handling cost or low sucrose concentration, depending on which was the energetically favorable option. Their behavior agreed with the critical currency being the rate of energy return (net energy collected per unit time), not energetic efficiency (net energy collected per unit energy spent). This suggests that bumblebees prioritize immediate carbohydrate flow to the nest rather than energy gain over the working lifespan of each bee. Trade-off paradigms like these are a powerful approach for quantifying pollinator trait preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan G. Pattrick
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, The John Krebs Field Station, Wytham, Oxford OX2 8QJ, UK
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Hamish A. Symington
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
| | - Walter Federle
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Beverley J. Glover
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
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2
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Strang C, Muth F. Judgement bias may be explained by shifts in stimulus response curves. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:221322. [PMID: 37035286 PMCID: PMC10073905 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Judgement bias, or 'optimism' and 'pessimism', has been demonstrated across many taxa, yet the cognitive mechanisms underlying this behaviour remain unclear. In an optimism paradigm, animals are trained to an association, and, if given a positive experience, behave more favourably towards 'ambiguous' stimuli. We tested whether this effect could be explained by changes to stimulus response gradients by giving bees a task where their response was tested across a wider gradient of stimuli than typically tested. In line with previous work, we found that bees given a positive experience demonstrated judgement bias, being more likely to visit ambiguous stimuli. However, bees were also less likely to visit a stimulus on the other side of the rewarded stimulus (S+), and as such had a shifted stimulus response curve, showing a diminished peak shift response. In two follow-up experiments we tested the hypothesis that our manipulation altered bees' stimulus response curves via changes to the peak shift response by reducing peak shift in controls. We found that, in support of our hypothesis, elimination of peak shift also eliminated differences between treatments. Our results point towards a cognitive explanation of 'optimistic' behaviour in non-human animals and offer a new paradigm for considering emotion-like states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Strang
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- School of Behavioural and Social Sciences, Brescia University College, London, Ontario, Canada N6G 1H2
| | - Felicity Muth
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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3
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Young AM, Dyer FC. Past experience with spatial or temporal resource unpredictability shapes exploration in honey bees, Apis mellifera. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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4
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Short- and long-term modulation of forager motivation by colony state in bumble bees. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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5
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Hemingway CT, Muth F. Label-based expectations affect incentive contrast effects in bumblebees. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210549. [PMID: 35259941 PMCID: PMC8905167 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
While classic models of animal decision-making assume that individuals assess the absolute value of options, decades of research have shown that rewards are often evaluated relative to recent experience, creating incentive contrast effects. Contrast effects are often assumed to be purely sensory, yet consumer and experimental psychology tell us that label-based expectations can affect value perception in humans and rodents. However, this has rarely been tested in non-model systems. Bumblebees forage on a variety of flowers that vary in their signals and rewards and show contrast when rewards are lowered. We manipulated bees' expectations of stimulus quality, before downshifting the reward to induce incentive contrast. We found that contrast effects were not solely driven by experience with a better reward, but also influenced by experience with associated stimuli. While bees' initial response did not differ between treatments, individuals were faster to accept the lower-quality reward when it was paired with a novel stimulus. We explored the boundaries of these label-based expectations by testing bees along a stimulus gradient and found that expectations generalized to similar stimuli. Such reference-dependent evaluations may play an important role in bees' foraging choices, with the potential to impact floral evolution and plant community dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Felicity Muth
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
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6
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Soorangkattan S, Nalluchamy KD, Arumugam S, Sivagnanam C, Thulasinathan B, Ramu SM, Alagarsamy A, Muthuramalingam JB. Studies on the influence of natural resource utilization by humans on foraging behavior of honey bees at rural ecosystems. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2021; 28:33942-33956. [PMID: 33661494 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-13192-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Human utilization of natural resources acts as a main driver in altering the ecosystem service and functions. Apart from indirect influence, these human activities also tempt for the behavioral shift in insects especially in honey bees. The foraging behavior of honey bees from the natural floral resources to the man-made food sources eventually degrade the ecosystem's services and cause declining of the honey bee population. Understanding this foraging behavior of bees could help in opting for viable conservation measures for honey bees. In order to understand the influence of human utilization of natural resources on the foraging behavior of bees and its negative impacts on the bee population, the study was carried out in the sites where humans collect palm sap. Palm sap collectors used different containers (mud pots and pet bottles) to collect the palm sap from Borassus flabellifer. The number of containers per tree, volume of palm sap per container/tree, bee visiting frequency, and bee mortality per container/tree were measured at different ecosystems. Palm saps were collected freshly and volatile compounds of samples were identified using FT-IR and GC-MS analysis. The identified volatile compounds were used to study the interaction between volatile compounds and odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) of honey bees for understanding the foraging behavior of bees using in silico approach. Our results clearly showed that bee visitation frequency was directly correlated (0.94) with bee mortality in palm sap in different study sites. The average number of bee mortality was recorded as 491.2 ± 23.48 bees per container/tree/day. GC-MS analyses revealed the presence of 35 volatile compounds in collected palm sap from different study sites. Furthermore, molecular docking studies were performed for all 35 palm volatile compounds OBPs of honey bees to analyze their binding affinities. Docking studies showed that 1-methylbutylmandelate and 6-(hydroxymethyl)-1,4,4-trimethylbicyclo [3.1.0] hexan-2-ol have high binding affinity with OBP residues of bees. These volatile compounds might act as an attractant for bee populations for their foraging behavior. Based on this study, we conclude that human utilization of palm sap has created new ecological niches which highly alters the foraging behavior of bees and results in declining bee populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saravanan Soorangkattan
- Department of Botany, The Madura College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 625011, India.
- Department of Botany, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India.
| | | | - Sudha Arumugam
- Department of Biotechnology, Dr.Umayal Ramanathan College for Women, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Chandrasekaran Sivagnanam
- Department of Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
| | | | | | - Arun Alagarsamy
- Department of Microbiology, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India
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Chatterjee A, Bais D, Brockmann A, Ramesh D. Search Behavior of Individual Foragers Involves Neurotransmitter Systems Characteristic for Social Scouting. FRONTIERS IN INSECT SCIENCE 2021; 1:664978. [PMID: 38468879 PMCID: PMC10926421 DOI: 10.3389/finsc.2021.664978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
In honey bees search behavior occurs as social and solitary behavior. In the context of foraging, searching for food sources is performed by behavioral specialized foragers, the scouts. When the scouts have found a new food source, they recruit other foragers (recruits). These recruits never search for a new food source on their own. However, when the food source is experimentally removed, they start searching for that food source. Our study provides a detailed description of this solitary search behavior and the variation of this behavior among individual foragers. Furthermore, mass spectrometric measurement showed that the initiation and performance of this solitary search behavior is associated with changes in glutamate, GABA, histamine, aspartate, and the catecholaminergic system in the optic lobes and central brain area. These findings strikingly correspond with the results of an earlier study that showed that scouts and recruits differ in the expression of glutamate and GABA receptors. Together, the results of both studies provide first clear support for the hypothesis that behavioral specialization in honey bees is based on adjusting modulatory systems involved in solitary behavior to increase the probability or frequency of that behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arumoy Chatterjee
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, India
- School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Deepika Bais
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, India
| | - Axel Brockmann
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, India
| | - Divya Ramesh
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, India
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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8
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Incorvaia DC, Hintze A, Dyer FC. Spatial allocation without spatial recruitment in bumblebees. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Any foraging animal is expected to allocate its efforts among resource patches that vary in quality across time and space. For social insects, this problem is shifted to the colony level: the task of allocating foraging workers to the best patches currently available. To deal with this task, honeybees rely upon differential recruitment via the dance language, while some ants use differential recruitment on odor trails. Bumblebees, close relatives of honeybees, should also benefit from optimizing spatial allocation but lack any targeted recruitment system. How bumblebees solve this problem is thus of immense interest to evolutionary biologists studying collective behavior. It has been thought that bumblebees could solve the spatial allocation problem by relying on the summed individual decisions of foragers, who occasionally sample and shift to alternative resources. We use field experiments to test the hypothesis that bumblebees augment individual exploration with social information. Specifically, we provide behavioral evidence that, when higher-concentration sucrose arrives at the nest, employed foragers abandon their patches to begin searching for the better option; they are more likely to accept novel resources if they match the quality of the sucrose solution experienced in the nest. We explored this strategy further by building an agent-based model of bumblebee foraging. This model supports the hypothesis that using social information to inform search decisions is advantageous over individual search alone. Our results show that bumblebees use a collective foraging strategy built on social modulation of individual decisions, providing further insight into the evolution of collective behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren C Incorvaia
- Department of Integrative Biology and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Arend Hintze
- BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Department for Complex Dynamical Systems and MicroData Analytics, Dalarna University, Högskolegatan, Falun, Sweden
| | - Fred C Dyer
- Department of Integrative Biology and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
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9
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Adaptive tuning of the exploitation-exploration trade-off in four honey bee species. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02938-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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10
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Prior Experience with Food Reward Influences the Behavioral Responses of the Honeybee Apis mellifera and the Bumblebee Bombus lantschouensis to Tomato Floral Scent. INSECTS 2020; 11:insects11120884. [PMID: 33327411 PMCID: PMC7764895 DOI: 10.3390/insects11120884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Bees are important pollinators for many agricultural crops. Compared with bumblebees, honeybees are less attracted to tomato flowers. Floral scent usually plays an important role in mediating the foraging behavior of bees, and tomato flowers release special scents. However, little is known about how tomato floral scent regulates the foraging behaviors of these two bee taxa. In the current study, we investigated the foraging behaviors of the widely used pollinator honeybee Apis mellifera and a native bumblebee, Bombus lantschouensis, on tomato flowers to evaluate the potential application of these two bee species for tomato pollination in solar greenhouses. Moreover, we determined whether honeybees and bumblebees show different responses to tomato floral scent and how innate biases and prior experience influence bee choice behavior. We found that naïve bees showed no preference for tomato floral scent but could develop such a preference after learning to associate tomato floral scent with a food reward on the basis of foraging experience or scent-learning procedures. We conclude that scent-learning experiences with food reward can change the innate bias of bees and could be utilized to improve the pollination service efficiency of bees for commercial crops. Abstract Bee responses to floral scent are usually influenced by both innate biases and prior experience. Honeybees are less attracted than bumblebees to tomato flowers. However, little is known about how tomato floral scent regulates the foraging behaviors of honeybees and bumblebees. In this study, the foraging behaviors of the honeybee Apis mellifera and the bumblebee Bombus lantschouensis on tomato flowers in greenhouses were investigated. Whether the two bee species exhibit different responses to tomato floral scent and how innate biases and prior experience influence bee choice behavior were examined. In the greenhouses, honeybees failed to collect pollen from tomato flowers, and their foraging activities decreased significantly over days. Additionally, neither naïve honeybees nor naïve bumblebees showed a preference for tomato floral scent in a Y-tube olfactometer. However, foraging experience in the tomato greenhouses helped bumblebees develop a strong preference for the scent, whereas honeybees with foraging experience continued to show aversion to tomato floral scent. After learning to associate tomato floral scent with a sugar reward in proboscis extension response (PER) assays, both bee species exhibited a preference for tomato floral scent in Y-tube olfactometers. The findings indicated that prior experience with a food reward strongly influenced bee preference for tomato floral scent.
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11
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Lichtenberg EM, Heiling JM, Bronstein JL, Barker JL. Noisy communities and signal detection: why do foragers visit rewardless flowers? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190486. [PMID: 32420846 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Floral communities present complex and shifting resource landscapes for flower-foraging animals. Strong similarities among the floral displays of different plant species, paired with high variability in reward distributions across time and space, can weaken correlations between floral signals and reward status. As a result, it should be difficult for foragers to discriminate between rewarding and rewardless flowers. Building on signal detection theory in behavioural ecology, we use hypothetical probability density functions to examine graphically how plant signals pose challenges to forager decision-making. We argue that foraging costs associated with incorrect acceptance of rewardless flowers and incorrect rejection of rewarding ones interact with community-level reward availability to determine the extent to which rewardless and rewarding species should overlap in flowering time. We discuss the evolutionary consequences of these phenomena from both the forager and the plant perspectives. This article is part of the theme issue 'Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elinor M Lichtenberg
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences and Advanced Environmental Research Institute, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
| | - Jacob M Heiling
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Judith L Bronstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Jessica L Barker
- The Behavioural Insights Team, UK.,Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Denmark
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12
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Daniel AM. Scaling relative incentive value in honey bees, Apis mellifera. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2020.101614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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13
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Chatterjee A, George EA, M V P, Basu P, Brockmann A. Honey bees flexibly use two navigational memories when updating dance distance information. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:jeb.195099. [PMID: 31097604 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.195099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Honey bees can communicate navigational information which makes them unique amongst all prominent insect navigators. Returning foragers recruit nest mates to a food source by communicating flight distance and direction using a small scale walking pattern: the waggle dance. It is still unclear how bees transpose flight information to generate corresponding dance information. In single feeder shift experiments, we monitored for the first time how individual bees update dance duration after a shift of feeder distance. Interestingly, the majority of bees (86%) needed two or more foraging trips to update dance duration. This finding demonstrates that transposing flight navigation information to dance information is not a reflexive behavior. Furthermore, many bees showed intermediate dance durations during the update process, indicating that honey bees highly likely use two memories: (i) a recently acquired navigation experience and (ii) a previously stored flight experience. Double-shift experiments, in which the feeder was moved forward and backward, created an experimental condition in which honey bee foragers did not update dance duration; suggesting the involvement of more complex memory processes. Our behavioral paradigm allows the dissociation of foraging and dance activity and opens the possibility of studying the molecular and neural processes underlying the waggle dance behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arumoy Chatterjee
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India.,School of Chemical & Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur 613401, India
| | - Ebi A George
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India
| | - Prabhudev M V
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India.,Department of Biosciences, University of Mysore, Mysore 570006, India
| | - Pallab Basu
- International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560 089, India
| | - Axel Brockmann
- National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India
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14
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George EA, Brockmann A. Social modulation of individual differences in dance communication in honey bees. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2649-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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15
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Rivera MD, Donaldson-Matasci M, Dornhaus A. Quitting time: When do honey bee foragers decide to stop foraging on natural resources? Front Ecol Evol 2015. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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16
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Katz K, Naug D. Energetic state regulates the exploration–exploitation trade-off in honeybees. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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17
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Sherry DF, Strang CG. Contrasting styles in cognition and behaviour in bumblebees and honeybees. Behav Processes 2014; 117:59-69. [PMID: 25218105 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2014] [Revised: 09/02/2014] [Accepted: 09/02/2014] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Bumblebees and honeybees have been the subjects of a great deal of recent research in animal cognition. Many of the major topics in cognition, including memory, attention, concept learning, numerosity, spatial cognition, timing, social learning, and metacognition have been examined in bumblebees, honeybees, or both. Although bumblebees and honeybees are very closely related, they also differ in important ways, including social organization, development, and foraging behaviour. We examine whether differences between bumblebees and honeybees in cognitive processes are related to differences in their natural history and behaviour. There are differences in some cognitive traits, such as serial reversal learning and matching-to-sample, that appear related to differences between bumblebees and honeybees in foraging and social behaviour. Other cognitive processes, such as numerosity, appear to be very similar. Despite the wealth of information that is available on some aspects of bumblebee and honeybee cognition and behaviour, there are relatively few instances, however, in which adequate data exist to make direct comparisons. We highlight a number of phenomena, including concept learning, spatial cognition, timing, and metacognition, for which targeted comparative research may reveal unexpected adaptive variation in cognitive processes in these complex animals. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: In Honor of Jerry Hogan.
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Affiliation(s)
- David F Sherry
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 5C2.
| | - Caroline G Strang
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 5C2
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18
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Automated monitoring reveals extreme interindividual variation and plasticity in honeybee foraging activity levels. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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19
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Konzmann S, Lunau K. Divergent rules for pollen and nectar foraging bumblebees--a laboratory study with artificial flowers offering diluted nectar substitute and pollen surrogate. PLoS One 2014; 9:e91900. [PMID: 24637406 PMCID: PMC3956814 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2012] [Accepted: 02/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Almost all bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers. Female bees collect pollen to provision their nest cells, whereas they use nectar for individual energy supply and nest cell provisioning. Bees fine-tune nectar foraging to the amount and to the concentration of nectar, but the individual bees' response to variability of amount and concentration of pollen reward has not yet been studied thoroughly in laboratory settings. We developed an experimental set-up in which bumblebees simultaneously collected sugar solution and pollen from artificial flowers; natural pollen was mixed with cellulose powder or glass powder as a pollen surrogate. Here we show that bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) workers do not specialise in nectar or pollen collection, but regularly collect both rewards on the same day. When offered a fixed pollen reward and varied amounts and concentrations of sugar solution, the bumblebees fine-tuned sugar solution foraging dependent on both the volume and concentration, with strong preferences for the highest concentration and the greatest volume. In the reciprocal tests, when offered a fixed sugar reward and varied amounts and concentrations of pollen mixed with a nutrient-free pollen surrogate, the bumblebees follow more an all-or-none rule for pollen, accepting all amounts and concentrations except pure surrogate. It is discussed how the bumblebees' ability to sense sugar, and their apparent inability to sense the pollen protein content, shaped their foraging behaviour. It is argued that the rarity of nectar mimicry and the frequency of pollen mimicry in natural flowers might be interpreted in the context of divergent abilities of nectar and pollen recognition in bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Konzmann
- Institute of Sensory Ecology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Klaus Lunau
- Institute of Sensory Ecology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- * E-mail: .
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20
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Al Toufailia H, Grüter C, Ratnieks FL. Persistence to Unrewarding Feeding Locations by Honeybee Foragers (Apis mellifera): the Effects of Experience, Resource Profitability and Season. Ethology 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hasan Al Toufailia
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects; School of Life Science; University of Sussex; Falmer UK
| | - Christoph Grüter
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects; School of Life Science; University of Sussex; Falmer UK
| | - Francis L.W. Ratnieks
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects; School of Life Science; University of Sussex; Falmer UK
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21
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Long Z, Prepas E. Scale and landscape perception: the case of refuge use by Boreal Toads (Anaxyrus boreas boreas). CAN J ZOOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1139/z2012-069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Refugia likely represent a critical resource necessary for the persistence of populations of Boreal Toads ( Anaxyrus boreas boreas (Baird and Girard, 1852)) in a given area. However, the features that define suitable refuge microsites and the extent to which the habitat surrounding refugia is exploited remains unclear. We sought to describe refuge characteristics in the context of their surroundings and to determine whether local-scale movement behaviour associated with refuge use might provide a novel perspective of landscape-level habitat selection. A pilot study suggested that refugia were selected primarily for physical structure in the form of coarse woody debris, but this was not the case. Instead, refugia provided favourable microclimates with elevated relative humidity compared with the surrounding habitat. Boreal Toads tended to forage at night within 15 m from refugia. This distance was used to calculate activity centres across toad summer home ranges. Activity centres prioritized the importance of treeless habitat overall and wetland habitat for females when compared with 50% core home ranges. This approach could be used to pinpoint critical habitat at the landscape scale, which may be of particular importance for conserving populations currently in decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z.L. Long
- Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
| | - E.E. Prepas
- Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
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Morawetz L, Spaethe J. Visual attention in a complex search task differs between honeybees and bumblebees. J Exp Biol 2012; 215:2515-23. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.066399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Mechanisms of spatial attention are used when the amount of gathered information exceeds processing capacity. Such mechanisms have been proposed in bees, but have not yet been experimentally demonstrated. We provide evidence that selective attention influences the foraging performance of two social bee species, the honeybee Apis mellifera and the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. Visual search tasks, originally developed for application in human psychology, were adapted for behavioural experiments on bees. We examined the impact of distracting visual information on search performance, which we measured as error rate and decision time. We found that bumblebees were significantly less affected by distracting objects than honeybees. Based on the results, we conclude that the search mechanism in honeybees is serial like, whereas in bumblebees it shows the characteristics of a restricted parallel-like search. Furthermore, the bees differed in their strategy to solve the speed–accuracy trade-off. Whereas bumblebees displayed slow but correct decision-making, honeybees exhibited fast and inaccurate decision-making. We propose two neuronal mechanisms of visual information processing that account for the different responses between honeybees and bumblebees, and we correlate species-specific features of the search behaviour to differences in habitat and life history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linde Morawetz
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Johannes Spaethe
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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An integrated look at decision-making in bees as they abandon a depleted food source. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-011-1275-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
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