Intra-specific differences in cognition: bumblebee queens learn better than workers.

ABSTRACT: Species' cognitive traits are shaped by their ecology, and even within a species, cognition can reflect the behavioural requirements of individuals with different roles. Social insects have a number of discrete roles (castes) within a colony and thus offer a useful system to determine how ecological requirements shape cognition. Bumblebee queens are a critical point in the lifecycle of their colony, since its future success is reliant on a single individual's ability to learn about floral stimuli while finding a suitable nest site; thus, one might expect particularly adept learning capabilities at this stage. I compared wild Bombus vosnesenskii queens and workers on their ability to learn a colour association and found that queens performed better than workers. In addition, queens o

SUBMITTER: Muth F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8355662 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature