Social Learning in Bumblebees (<i>Bombus impatiens</i>): Worker Bumblebees Learn to Manipulate and Forage at Artificial Flowers by Observation and Communication within the Colony

Mirwan, Hamida B.; Kevan, Peter G.

doi:10.1155/2013/768108

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…To this end, our bees used a combination of simple forms of learning. Consistent with a previous study [ 55 ], during observation, bees were able to pick up the location of a new access to the reward (local enhancement of flower position). In addition, we showed that the observers were attracted to the string (stimulus enhancement).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Associative Mechanisms Allow for Social Learning and Cultural Transmission of String Pulling in an Insect

et al. 2016

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Social insects make elaborate use of simple mechanisms to achieve seemingly complex behavior and may thus provide a unique resource to discover the basic cognitive elements required for culture, i.e., group-specific behaviors that spread from “innovators” to others in the group via social learning. We first explored whether bumblebees can learn a nonnatural object manipulation task by using string pulling to access a reward that was presented out of reach. Only a small minority “innovated” and solved the task spontaneously, but most bees were able to learn to pull a string when trained in a stepwise manner. In addition, naïve bees learnt the task by observing a trained demonstrator from a distance. Learning the behavior relied on a combination of simple associative mechanisms and trial-and-error learning and did not require “insight”: naïve bees failed a “coiled-string experiment,” in which they did not receive instant visual feedback of the target moving closer when tugging on the string. In cultural diffusion experiments, the skill spread rapidly from a single knowledgeable individual to the majority of a colony’s foragers. We observed that there were several sequential sets (“generations”) of learners, so that previously naïve observers could first acquire the technique by interacting with skilled individuals and, subsequently, themselves become demonstrators for the next “generation” of learners, so that the longevity of the skill in the population could outlast the lives of informed foragers. This suggests that, so long as animals have a basic toolkit of associative and motor learning processes, the key ingredients for the cultural spread of unusual skills are already in place and do not require sophisticated cognition.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Associative Mechanisms Allow for Social Learning and Cultural Transmission of String Pulling in an Insect

et al. 2016

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“…It has long been known that during foraging, bees are attracted to visibly occupied flowers [e.g., bumblebees (Brian, 1957); stingless bees (Slaa et al, 2003); honey bees (Von Frisch, 1967), suggesting that they learn to exploit food resources by copying the choices of other bees (Romanes, 1884)]. Recent studies with bumblebees have shown that individuals can indeed glean information from watching other foragers, and change accordingly their floral choices (Leadbeater andChittka, 2005, 2007a;Worden and Papaj, 2005;Kawaguchi et al, 2007;Baude et al, 2011;Avarguès-Weber and Chittka, 2014a,b), their choice of location (Leadbeater andChittka, 2005, 2009;Kawaguchi et al, 2006;Baude et al, 2008;Dawson and Chittka, 2012;Plowright et al, 2013) and their handling strategies (Leadbeater and Chittka, 2008;Goulson et al, 2013;Mirwan and Kevan, 2013).…”

Section: Observational Learning In Bees Behavioral Evidencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information transfer beyond the waggle dance: observational learning in bees and flies

et al. 2015

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Social information transfer is part of the success of animal societies and has been documented in a variety of taxa, from slime molds to humans. In invertebrates, the historical research focus has been on the specialized signals shaped by selection to convey information, such as the honeybee waggle dance. However, growing evidence shows that invertebrates also commonly glean critical information about their environment by observing others. For instance, a bumblebee's choice between novel flower species is influenced by the observation of the foraging choices of more experienced conspecifics. Recent studies suggest that these seemingly complex learning abilities can be explained in terms of simple associative learning, whereby individuals learn to associate social cues (conditioned stimuli) to reward cues (unconditioned stimuli). Here, we review the behavioral evidence of observational learning both in bees and Drosophila. We discuss the validity of associative accounts of observational learning and the potential neural circuits mediating visual social learning in these model species to define future research avenues for studying the neurobiology of social cognition in miniature brains.

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“…Here we sought to uncover the mechanisms implemented by flying insects in gap identification and perception. Bumblebees are excellent model organisms because much is known about their flight and navigational performance (Baird and Dacke, 2012; Crall et al, 2014; Mirwan and Kevan, 2013; Osborne et al, 2008; Ravi et al, 2013; Riabinina et al, 2014; Lobecke et al 2018). We presented unsuspecting bumblebees with an altered environment consisting of a wall obstructing their flight path but containing a gap that prevented direct passage to their goal and observed their behavior as they approached and traversed the gap.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gap perception in bumblebees

Ravi

Bertrand

Siesenop

et al. 2018

Preprint

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13 14 A number of insects fly over long distances below the natural canopy where the physical 15 environment is highly cluttered consisting of obstacles of varying shape, size and 16 texture. While navigating within such environments animals need to perceive and 17 disambiguate environmental features that might obstruct their flight. The most 18 elemental aspect of aerial navigation through such environments is gap identification 19 and passability evaluation. We used bumblebees to seek insights into the mechanisms 20 used for gap identification when confronted with an obstacle in their flight path and 21 behavioral compensations employed to assess gap properties. Initially, bumblebee 22 33 the gap, in our case, indicated by the optic flow contrast between the region within the 34 gap and on the obstacle, which increases with decreasing distance between the gap and 35 the background wall. As the optic flow contrast decreased the bees spent increasing 36 time moving laterally across the obstacles. During these repeated lateral maneuvers the 37 bees are likely assessing gap geometry and passability. 38 39 40 65 and path planning. For long distance navigation, flying insects might use, apart from 66 vision, other sensory modalities such as odor and geomagnetic fields (Knaden and 67 Graham, 2016) In order for a flying animal to arrive at its intended destination or ensure 68 safe locomotion, at a basic level, the animal needs to process the obstacles that lie in its 69 path and identify gaps. Obstacle and gap detection may thus be considered the most 70

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Social Learning in Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens): Worker Bumblebees Learn to Manipulate and Forage at Artificial Flowers by Observation and Communication within the Colony

Cited by 11 publications

References 40 publications

Associative Mechanisms Allow for Social Learning and Cultural Transmission of String Pulling in an Insect

Associative Mechanisms Allow for Social Learning and Cultural Transmission of String Pulling in an Insect

Information transfer beyond the waggle dance: observational learning in bees and flies

Gap perception in bumblebees

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