QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online February 12, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 845-853 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.002089

This Article Summary Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JEB Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dacke, M. Articles by Srinivasan, M. V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dacke, M. Articles by Srinivasan, M. V.

Honeybee navigation: distance estimation in the third dimension

M. Dacke^* and M. V. Srinivasan

Centre for Excellence in Vision Science, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, PO Box 475, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

View larger version (10K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 1. The effect of varying tunnel length and orientation on the mean waggle duration of bees returning to the hive after feeding inside the tunnel. Values are means ± s.d. for each experimental condition. The walls and floor of the tunnel were lined with checkerboard patterns in all cases but one, where axial stripes (Ax) were used instead. The mean waggle duration varies with the length of the tunnel but not with its three-dimensional configuration. Abbreviations: 4m, 4 m tunnel; 6m, 6 m tunnel; h, horizontal tunnel; o, oblique tunnel, 48° incline; v, vertical tunnel; L, L-shaped tunnel, with a 2 m vertical section followed by a horizontal section.

View larger version (6K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 2. The effect of varying tunnel length and orientation on the percentage of waggle loops of bees returning to the hive after feeding inside the tunnel. Values are means ± s.d. for each experimental condition. The proportion of waggle loops varies consistently with tunnel length, but not with tunnel orientation. Abbreviations: 4m, 4 m tunnel; 6m, 6 m tunnel; h, horizontal tunnel; o, oblique tunnel, 48° incline; v, vertical tunnel.

View larger version (5K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 3. The effect of tunnel orientation on the position and accuracy of food search. Honeybees were trained to find a reward at unit 20 (arrow) of a horizontal tunnel or a vertical tunnel and were subsequently tested in an identical, fresh tunnel that carried no reward. The mean searching positions in the two experiments are not significantly different from each other or from the position of the feeder during the training.

View larger version (27K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 4. The effect of the inclination of the flight path on the body orientation of a flying bee. The black-and-white squares depict the checkerboard pattern in the (A) horizontal, (B) vertical and (C) oblique tunnels. In each case, the drawing of the bee illustrates the mean body orientation of (A) 19°, (B) 10° and (C) –3°. Arrows indicate the direction of flight. Histograms show the number of flights representing each angle of body orientation, binned in 5° intervals, as measured in the (D) horizontal, (E) vertical and (F) oblique tunnels.