Innate recognition of flowers by bumble bees: orientation of antennae to visual stamen signals

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (11) ◽  
pp. 2139-2144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Lunau
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Spectral Purity ◽  
Corolla Colour ◽  
Olfactory Stimuli ◽  
Innate Behaviour ◽  
Bombus Lucorum ◽  
Artificial Flowers ◽  
Antennal Contact

The innate behaviour of flower-naive bumble bees (Bombus terrestris, Bombus lucorum) was observed at artificial flowers that consisted of a corolla and a guide area. A set of key stimuli was found to release a sequence of reactions, including the bee's approach, antennal reaction, and landing. For each reaction a binary choice between visual and olfactory signals was presented at the artificial flowers. Approach from a distance was released by the spectral purity of the corolla colour. The antennal reaction, which is the first antennal contact at an artificial flower, and occurs while the bumble bee is in flight, was oriented toward those areas with colours of the highest spectral purity. The landing reaction was released by visual and olfactory signals from the areas contacted during the antennal reaction. The combined presentation of visual signals from the anthers and olfactory signals from the pollen most effectively promoted landing. The antennal reaction allows precise alignment for landing and the antennal tips contact the visually conspicuous guide areas. This leads to effective perception of visual and olfactory stimuli from the guide area. The pollen and anthers, as well as the floral guides, which act as landing signals, of entomophilous flowers (Linaria vulgaris, Melampyrumpratense) possess olfactory qualities. In contrast, the pollen of one anemophilous plant (Pinus cedrus) exhibits no such qualities.

scholarly journals Colour as a backup for scent in the presence of olfactory noise: testing the efficacy backup hypothesis using bumblebees ( Bombus terrestris )

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 170996 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Lawson ◽  
Heather M. Whitney ◽  
Sean A. Rands
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Metabolic Cost ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Visual Signal ◽  
High Wind ◽  
Chemical Interference ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Floral Displays ◽  
Artificial Flowers

The majority of floral displays simultaneously broadcast signals from multiple sensory modalities, but these multimodal displays come at both a metabolic cost and an increased conspicuousness to floral antagonists. Why then do plants invest in these costly multimodal displays? The efficacy backup hypothesis suggests that individual signal components act as a backup for others in the presence of environmental variability. Here, we test the efficacy backup hypothesis by investigating the ability of bumblebees to differentiate between sets of artificial flowers in the presence of either chemical interference or high wind speeds, both of which have the potential to impede the transmission of olfactory signals. We found that both chemical interference and high wind speeds negatively affected forager learning times, but these effects were mitigated in the presence of a visual signal component. Our results suggest that visual signals can act as a backup for olfactory signals in the presence of chemical interference and high wind speeds, and support the efficacy backup hypothesis as an explanation for the evolution of multimodal floral displays.

scholarly journals Olfactory coding in the antennal lobe of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Mertes ◽  
Julie Carcaud ◽  
Jean-Christophe Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Carbon Chain Length ◽  
Olfactory Coding ◽  
Major Transitions

AbstractSociality is classified as one of the major transitions in evolution, with the largest number of eusocial species found in the insect order Hymenoptera, including the Apini (honey bees) and the Bombini (bumble bees). Bumble bees and honey bees not only differ in their social organization and foraging strategies, but comparative analyses of their genomes demonstrated that bumble bees have a slightly less diverse family of olfactory receptors than honey bees, suggesting that their olfactory abilities have adapted to different social and/or ecological conditions. However, unfortunately, no precise comparison of olfactory coding has been performed so far between honey bees and bumble bees, and little is known about the rules underlying olfactory coding in the bumble bee brain. In this study, we used in vivo calcium imaging to study olfactory coding of a panel of floral odorants in the antennal lobe of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris. Our results show that odorants induce reproducible neuronal activity in the bumble bee antennal lobe. Each odorant evokes a different glomerular activity pattern revealing this molecule’s chemical structure, i.e. its carbon chain length and functional group. In addition, pairwise similarity among odor representations are conserved in bumble bees and honey bees. This study thus suggests that bumble bees, like honey bees, are equipped to respond to odorants according to their chemical features.

scholarly journals Adding Amino Acids to a Sucrose Diet Is Not Sufficient to Support Longevity of Adult Bumble Bees

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Grund-Mueller ◽  
Fabian A. Ruedenauer ◽  
Johannes Spaethe ◽  
Sara D. Leonhardt
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Amino Acid Content ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Nutritional Composition ◽  
Nutrient Composition ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Essential Amino Acid Content

Dietary macro-nutrients (i.e., carbohydrates, protein, and fat) are important for bee larval development and, thus, colony health and fitness. To which extent different diets (varying in macro-nutrient composition) affect adult bees and whether they can thrive on nectar as the sole amino acid source has, however, been little investigated. We investigated how diets varying in protein concentration and overall nutrient composition affected consumption, longevity, and breeding behavior of the buff-tailed bumble bee, Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Queenless micro-colonies were fed either natural nutrient sources (pollen), nearly pure protein (i.e., the milk protein casein), or sucrose solutions with low and with high essential amino acid content in concentrations as can be found in nectar. We observed micro-colonies for 110 days. We found that longevity was highest for pure pollen and lowest for pure sucrose solution and sucrose solution supplemented with amino acids in concentrations as found in the nectar of several plant species. Adding higher concentrations of amino acids to sucrose solution did only slightly increase longevity compared to sucrose alone. Consequently, sucrose solution with the applied concentrations and proportions of amino acids or other protein sources (e.g., casein) alone did not meet the nutritional needs of healthy adult bumble bees. In fact, longevity was highest and reproduction only successful in micro-colonies fed pollen. These results indicate that, in addition to carbohydrates and protein, adult bumble bees, like larvae, need further nutrients (e.g., lipids and micro-nutrients) for their well-being. An appropriate nutritional composition seemed to be best provided by floral pollen, suggesting that pollen is an essential dietary component not only for larvae but also for adult bees.

scholarly journals Higher iridescent-to-pigment optical effect in flowers facilitates learning, memory and generalization in foraging bumblebees

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1865) ◽  
pp. 20171097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Géraud de Premorel ◽  
Martin Giurfa ◽  
Christine Andraud ◽  
Doris Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Optical Measurements ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Memory Retention ◽  
Optical Effect ◽  
Plant Communication ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
Angle Of View ◽  
Artificial Flowers

Iridescence—change of colour with changes in the angle of view or of illumination—is widespread in the living world, but its functions remain poorly understood. The presence of iridescence has been suggested in flowers where diffraction gratings generate iridescent colours. Such colours have been suggested to serve plant–pollinator communication. Here we tested whether a higher iridescence relative to corolla pigmentation would facilitate discrimination, learning and retention of iridescent visual targets. We conditioned bumblebees ( Bombus terrestris ) to discriminate iridescent from non-iridescent artificial flowers and we varied iridescence detectability by varying target iridescent relative to pigment optical effect. We show that bees rewarded on targets with higher iridescent relative to pigment effect required fewer choices to complete learning, showed faster generalization to novel targets exhibiting the same iridescence-to-pigment level and had better long-term memory retention. Along with optical measurements, behavioural results thus demonstrate that bees can learn iridescence-related cues as bona fide signals for flower reward. They also suggest that floral advertising may be shaped by competition between iridescence and corolla pigmentation, a fact that has important evolutionary implications for pollinators. Optical measurements narrow down the type of cues that bees may have used for learning. Beyond pollinator–plant communication, our experiments help understanding how receivers influence the evolution of iridescence signals generated by gratings.

Effects of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide, on reproduction in worker bumble bees (Bombus terrestris)

Ecotoxicology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1937-1945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Laycock ◽  
Kate M. Lenthall ◽  
Andrew T. Barratt ◽  
James E. Cresswell
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees

Foraging by bumble bees on patches of artificial flowers: a laboratory study

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 1866-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. K. Hartling ◽  
R. C. Plowright
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Study ◽  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Optimal Foraging Theory ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Bee Foraging ◽  
Bombus Atratus ◽  
Artificial Flowers ◽  
Repeat Visits

A remotely controlled artificial flower system for investigation of bumble bee foraging behaviour in the laboratory is described. The behaviour of Bombus atratus Fkln. workers from captive colonies trained to forage on patches of artificial flowers in a flight room conformed well to the predictions of optimal foraging theory. Within-patch movement was systematic, tending to minimize repeat visits to flowers sampled previously. Between-patch movement was influenced both by frequency of encounters with empty flowers in the first patch and by inter-patch distance.

scholarly journals Contextual modulation of visuomotor associations in bumble‐bees ( Bombus terrestris )

1999 ◽  
Vol 266 (1436) ◽  
pp. 2413-2418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Colborn ◽  
Azlina Ahmad-Annuar ◽  
Karine Fauria ◽  
Thomas S. Collett
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Contextual Modulation

scholarly journals Co-occurrence of RNA viruses in Tasmanian-introduced bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) and honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Apidologie ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-251
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Fung ◽  
Kelly Hill ◽  
Katja Hogendoorn ◽  
Andrew B. Hingston ◽  
Richard V. Glatz
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees
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