Going against the flow: bumblebees prefer to fly upwind and display more variable kinematics when flying downwind.

ABSTRACT: Foraging insects fly over long distances through complex aerial environments, and many can maintain constant ground speeds in wind, allowing them to gauge flight distance. Although insects encounter winds from all directions in the wild, most lab-based studies have employed still air or headwinds (i.e. upwind flight); additionally, insects are typically compelled to fly in a single, fixed environment, so we know little about their preferences for different flight conditions. We used automated video collection and analysis methods and a two-choice flight tunnel paradigm to examine thousands of foraging flights performed by hundreds of bumblebees flying upwind and downwind. In contrast to the preference for flying with a tailwind (i.e. downwind) displayed by migrating insects, we found that

SUBMITTER: Combes SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10263149 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature