Visually guided homing of bumblebees in ambiguous situations: A behavioural and modelling study.

ABSTRACT: Returning home is a crucial task accomplished daily by many animals, including humans. Because of their tiny brains, insects, like bees or ants, are good study models for efficient navigation strategies. Bees and ants are known to rely mainly on learned visual information about the nest surroundings to pinpoint their barely visible nest-entrance. During the return, when the actual sight of the insect matches the learned information, the insect is easily guided home. Occasionally, modifications to the visual environment may take place while the insect is on a foraging trip. Here, we addressed the ecologically relevant question of how bumblebees' homing is affected by such a situation. In an artificial setting, we habituated bees to be guided to their nest by two constellations of visual cue

SUBMITTER: Doussot C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7553325 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature