Odor Learning and Its Experience-Dependent Modulation in the South American Native Bumblebee Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

ABSTRACT: Learning about olfactory stimuli is essential in bumblebees' life since it is involved in orientation, recognition of nest sites, foraging efficiency and food yield for the colony as a whole. To evaluate associative learning abilities in bees under controlled environmental conditions, the proboscis extension response (PER) assay is a well-established method used in honey bees, stingless bees and successfully adapted to bumblebees of the genus Bombus. However, studies on the learning capacity of Bombus atratus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), one of the most abundant native species in South America, are non-existent. In this study, we examined the cognitive abilities of worker bees of this species, carrying out an olfactory PER conditioning experiment. Bumblebees were able to learn a pure odor when i

SUBMITTER: Palottini F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5934905 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature