Does bumblebee preference of continuous over interrupted strings in string-pulling tasks indicate means-end comprehension?

ABSTRACT: Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) have been shown to engage in string-pulling behavior to access rewards. The objective of this study was to elucidate whether bumblebees display means-end comprehension in a string-pulling task. We presented bumblebees with two options: one where a string was connected to an artificial flower containing a reward and the other presenting an interrupted string. Bumblebees displayed a consistent preference for pulling connected strings over interrupted ones after training with a stepwise pulling technique. When exposed to novel string colors, bees continued to exhibit a bias towards pulling the connected string. This suggests that bumblebees engage in featural generalization of the visual display of the string connected to the flower in this task. If the v

SUBMITTER: Wen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11410369 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature