A comparative analysis of colour preferences in temperate and tropical social bees.

ABSTRACT: The spontaneous occurrence of colour preferences without learning has been demonstrated in several insect species; however, the underlying mechanisms are still not understood. Here, we use a comparative approach to investigate spontaneous and learned colour preferences in foraging bees of two tropical and one temperate species. We hypothesised that tropical bees utilise different sets of plants and therefore might differ in their spontaneous colour preferences. We tested colour-naive bees and foragers from colonies that had been enclosed in large flight cages for a long time. Bees were shortly trained with triplets of neutral, UV-grey stimuli placed randomly at eight locations on a black training disk to induce foraging motivation. During unrewarded tests, the bees' responses to eight colo

SUBMITTER: Balamurali GS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5750331 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature