Object use in insects

Wen, Chao; Wang, Cai; Guo, Xiaoli; Li, Hongyu; Xiao, Haijun; Wen, Junbao; Dong, Shikui

doi:10.1111/1744-7917.13275

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 108 publications

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“…Fire ants usually show many object-use behaviors [30]. For example, our previous studies show that S. invicta usually relocated soil particles to cover the surfaces treated with pesticides, repellents, or sticky materials [18,31,32].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging Behaviors of Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera Formicidae) in Response to Bait Containing Different Concentrations of Fipronil, Abamectin, or Indoxacarb

Du,

Lyu,

Wang

et al. 2023

Insects

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The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, is a severe pest with agricultural, ecological, and medical significance. The baiting treatment is one of the main methods to control S. invicta. However, few studies have evaluated the acceptance of fire ant bait. Here, field and laboratory studies were conducted to investigate the foraging behaviors of S. invicta responding to fire ant baits containing different concentrations of active ingredients (fipronil, abamectin, or indoxacarb). Field studies showed that S. invicta transported significantly less 0.0125% fipronil bait than control bait (without toxicant) and 0.0001% fipronil bait. The number of foraging ants significantly decreased with an increase in fipronil concentration. Our previous study showed that S. invicta usually buries the food treated with repellent chemicals, and interestingly, significantly more soil particles were transported into tubes containing 0.0001% fipronil bait than tubes containing control bait or 0.0125% fipronil bait. In addition, S. invicta transported significantly less 0.0005% abamectin bait than control bait, and significantly fewer ants were found in tubes containing 0.0125% abamectin bait than control bait. However, there was no significant difference in bait transport, number of foraging ants, and weight of soil particles relocated in tubes containing different concentrations of indoxacarb bait. In addition, laboratory studies showed that S. invicta transported significantly less 0.0125% fipronil bait than control bait and bait containing abamectin (0.0025% or 0.0125%) or indoxacarb (0.0125% or 0.0625%). In addition, the transport speed for the 0.0125% fipronil bait was the slowest. These results show that specific concentrations of some active ingredients may negatively affect bait acceptance for S. invicta, and should be avoided in fire ant bait production.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging Behaviors of Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera Formicidae) in Response to Bait Containing Different Concentrations of Fipronil, Abamectin, or Indoxacarb

Du,

Lyu,

Wang

et al. 2023

Insects

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

Wen,

Lu,

Solvi

et al. 2024

eLife

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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 a means-end comprehension in string-pulling task. We presented bumblebees with tasks involving choosing between two options: one where a string is connected to an artificial flower containing a reward and the other involving interrupted strings. Surprisingly, bumblebees displayed a consistent preference for pulling connected strings over interrupted ones after training with a stepwise pulling technique. Intriguingly, 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. When the bumblebees were confronted with coiled connected strings during the testing phase, they failed to identify and reject interrupted strings. This finding underscores the significance of visual consistency in enabling the bumblebees to perform the task successfully. Our results suggest that bumblebees to distinguish between continuous strings and interrupted strings relies on a combination of image matching and associative learning, rather than means-end understanding. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes employed by bumblebees when tackling complex spatial tasks.

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

Wen,

Lu,

Solvi

et al. 2024

eLife

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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 view of the string connected to the flower was restricted during the training phase, the proportion of bumblebees choosing the connected strings significantly decreased. Similarly, when the bumblebees were confronted with coiled connected strings during the testing phase, they failed to identify and reject the interrupted strings. This finding underscores the significance of visual consistency in enabling the bumblebees to perform the task successfully. Our results suggest that bumblebees’ ability to distinguish between continuous strings and interrupted strings relies on a combination of image matching and associative learning, rather than means-end understanding. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes employed by bumblebees when tackling complex spatial tasks.

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Object use in insects

Cited by 3 publications

References 108 publications

Foraging Behaviors of Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera Formicidae) in Response to Bait Containing Different Concentrations of Fipronil, Abamectin, or Indoxacarb

Foraging Behaviors of Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera Formicidae) in Response to Bait Containing Different Concentrations of Fipronil, Abamectin, or Indoxacarb

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

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

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