Advertisement
Journal Articles
Detection of bright and dim colours by honeybees
N. Hempel De Ibarra, M. Vorobyev, R. Brandt, M. Giurfa
Journal of Experimental Biology 2000 203: 3289-3298;

Summary

Honeybees, Apis mellifera, were trained to detect coloured disks with either a strong or a weak intensity difference against the background. Green, blue, ultraviolet-reflecting white and grey papers were reciprocally combined as targets or backgrounds, providing strong chromatic and/or achromatic cues. The behavioural performance of the honeybees was always symmetrical for both reciprocal target/background combinations of a colour pair, thus showing that target detection is independent of whether the colour is presented as a background or as a target in combination with the other colour. Bright targets against dim backgrounds and vice versa were detected more reliably than dim target/background combinations. This result favours the general assumption that the detectability of a coloured stimulus increases with increasing intensity.

REFERENCES

    1. Backhaus, W.,
    2. Menzel, R. and
    3. Kreissl, S.
    (1987). Multidimensional scaling of colour similarity in bees. Biol. Cybern 56, 293–.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Blackledge, T. A.
    (1998). Signal conflict in spider webs driven by predators and prey. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 265, 1991–.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Brandt, R. and
    2. Vorobyev, M.
    (1997). Metric analysis of increment threshold spectral sensitivity in the honeybee. Vision Res 37, 425–.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Chittka, L.,
    2. Shmida, A.,
    3. Troje, N. and
    4. Menzel, R.
    (1994). Ultraviolet as a component of flower reflections and the colour perception of Hymenoptera. Vision Res 34, 1489–.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Craig, C. L. and
    2. Bernard, G. D.
    (1990). Insect attraction to ultraviolet reflecting spider webs and web decorations. Ecology 71, 616–.
    OpenUrl
    1. Giurfa, M.,
    2. Eichmann, B. and
    3. Menzel, R.
    (1996). Symmetry perception in an insect. Nature 382, 458–.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Giurfa, M.,
    2. Hammer, M.,
    3. Stach, S.,
    4. Stollhoff, N.,
    5. Muller-Deisig, N. and
    6. Mizyrycki, C.
    (1999). Pattern learning by honeybees: conditioning procedure and recognition strategy. Anim. Behav 57, 315–.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Kugler, H.
    (1963). UV-Musterungen auf Bluten und ihr Zustandekommen. Planta 59, 296–.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Lehrer, M. and
    2. Bischof, S.
    (1995). Detection of model flowers by honeybees: the role of chromatic and achromatic contrast. Naturwissenschaften 82, 145–.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Lehrer, M.,
    2. Srinivasan, M. V.,
    3. Zhang, S. W. and
    4. Horridge, G. A.
    (1988). Motion cues provide the bee's visual world with a third dimension. Nature 332, 356–.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Menzel, R. and
    2. Shmida, A.
    (1993). The ecology of flower colours and the natural colour vision of insect pollinators: The Israeli flora as a study case. Biol. Rev 68, 81–.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Schrödinger, E.
    (1920). Grundlinien einer Theorie der Farbmetrik im Tagessehen. Ann. Phys 63, 397–.
    OpenUrl
    1. Srinivasan, M. V.
    (1994). Pattern recognition in the honeybee: recent progress. J. Insect Physiol 40, 183–.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Vorobyev, M.,
    2. Hempel de Ibarra, N.,
    3. Brandt, R. and
    4. Giurfa, M.
    (1999). Do ‘white’ and ‘green’ look the same to a bee?. Naturwissenschaften 86, 592–.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Waser, N. and
    2. Chittka, L.
    (1998). Bedazzled by flowers. Nature 394, 835–.
    OpenUrl
Back to top

 Download PDF

Email
Journal Articles
Detection of bright and dim colours by honeybees
N. Hempel De Ibarra, M. Vorobyev, R. Brandt, M. Giurfa
Journal of Experimental Biology 2000 203: 3289-3298;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Alerts

Article navigation

Other journals from The Company of Biologists

Advertisement

Meet the Editors at SICB Virtual 2021

Reserve your place to join some of the journal editors, including Editor-in-Chief Craig Franklin, at our Meet the Editor session on 17 February at 2pm (EST). Don’t forget to view our SICB Subject Collection, featuring relevant JEB papers relating to some of the symposia sessions.

2020 at The Company of Biologists

Despite 2020's challenges, we were able to bring a number of long-term projects and new ventures to fruition. As we enter a new year, join us as we reflect on the triumphs of the last 12 months.

Critical temperature window sends migratory black-headed buntings on their travels

The spring rise in temperature at black-headed bunting overwintering sites is essential for triggering the physical changes that they undergo before embarking on their spring migration – read more.

Developmental and reproductive physiology of small mammals at high altitude

Cayleih Robertson and Kathryn Wilsterman focus on high-altitude populations of the North American deer mouse in their review of the challenges and evolutionary innovations of pregnant and nursing small mammals at high altitude.

Read & Publish participation extends worldwide

“Being able to publish Open Access articles free of charge means that my article gets maximum exposure and has maximum impact, and that all my peers can read it regardless of the agreements that their universities have with publishers.”

Professor Roi Holzman (Tel Aviv University) shares his experience of publishing Open Access as part of our growing Read & Publish initiative. We now have over 60 institutions in 12 countries taking part – find out more and view our full list of participating institutions.