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First published online April 17, 2009
Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 1344-1350 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
doi: 10.1242/jeb.021881
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Fast learning but coarse discrimination of colours in restrained honeybees

C. Niggebrügge1, G. Leboulle1, R. Menzel1, B. Komischke1 and N. Hempel de Ibarra1,2,*

1 Department of Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Free University of Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
2 Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: n.hempel{at}exeter.ac.uk)

Accepted 10 February 2009

Colours are quickly learnt by free-moving bees in operant conditioning settings. In the present study, we report a method using the classical conditioning of the proboscis extension response (PER) in restrained honeybees (Apis mellifera), which allows bees to learn colours after just a few training trials. We further analysed how visual learning and discrimination is influenced by the quality of a stimulus by systematically varying the chromatic and achromatic properties of the stimuli. Using differential conditioning, we found that faster colour discrimination learning was correlated with reduced colour similarity between stimuli. In experiments with both absolute and differential conditioning, restrained bees showed poor colour discrimination and broad generalisation. This result is in strong contrast to the well-demonstrated ability of bees to finely discriminate colours under free-flight conditions and raises further questions about the temporal and perceptual processes underlying the ability of bees to discriminate and learn colours in different behavioural contexts.

Key words: PER, classical conditioning, colour vision, honeybee, insect learning


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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2009