spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online March 30, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 1367-1375 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02156
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vladusich, T.
Right arrow Articles by Zeil, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vladusich, T.
Right arrow Articles by Zeil, J.

Honeybee odometry and scent guidance

Tony Vladusich1,*, Jan M. Hemmi2 and Jochen Zeil2

1 Laboratory of Experimental Ophthalmology and NeuroImaging Centre, School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
2 Centre for Visual Science, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: t.vladusich{at}med.umcg.nl)

Accepted 7 February 2006

We report on a striking asymmetry in search behaviour observed in honeybees trained to forage alternately at one of two feeder sites in a narrow tunnel. Bees were trained by periodically switching the position of a sucrose reward between relatively short and long distances in the tunnel. Search behaviour was examined in the training tunnel itself and in a fresh tunnel devoid of scent cues deposited by bees during training. Bees tested in the fresh tunnel exhibited a bias towards the shorter site, while bees tested in the training tunnel searched closer to the longer site. In additional experiments, we manipulated the position of scent cues, relative to the training location, in the testing tunnel. Bees generally searched at the site to which they were trained rather than at the position of the scent. Our data argue strongly against the hypothesis that bees rely exclusively on deposited scent to accurately localise a food source in natural foraging environments. We instead conclude that odometry and scent guidance contribute to honeybee food search in a manner reflecting the significance and relative reliability of sensory information.

Key words: navigation, honeybee, odometry, scent, Apis mellifera






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006