Variations on a theme: bumblebee learning flights from the nest and from flowers

Abstract

On leaving a significant place to which they will return, bees and wasps perform learning flights to acquire visual information to guide them back. The flights are set in different contexts, such as from their nest or a flower, which are functionally and visually different. The permanent and inconspicuous nest hole of a bumblebee worker is locatable primarily through nearby visual features, whereas a more transient flower advertises itself by its colour and shape. We compared the learning flights of bumblebees leaving their nest or a flower in an experimental situation in which the nest hole, flower and their surroundings were visually similar. Consequently, differences in learning flights could be attributed to the bee's internal state when leaving the nest or flower rather than to the visual scene. Flights at the flower were a quarter as long as those at the nest and more focused on the flower than its surroundings. Flights at the nest covered a larger area with the bees surveying a wider range of directions. For the initial third of the learning flight, bees kept within about 5 cm of the flower and nest hole, and tended to face and fixate the nest, flower and nearby visual features. The pattern of these fixations varied between nest and flower, and these differences were reflected in the bees' return flights to the nest and flower. Together, these findings suggest that learning flights are tuned to the bees' inherent expectations of the visual and functional properties of nests and flowers.

Spatial Vision and Visually Guided Behavior in Apidae

“…When a bee leaves the hive for the first time, she performs a learning flight, which allows her to find her way back to the nest (e.g., [49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]). Even during later foraging periods, she updates this information whenever local features change in the vicinity of the nest.…”

“…These flights have been synonymously referred to as orientation flights, learning flights, or turn back and look behavior (e.g., [49][50][51][52][53]. This behavior, which has been largely documented in A. mellifera [50][51][52][53] and B. terrestris [49,54,56,57], helps a forager learn features around the nest or a feeding location when viewed from different positions. Orientation flights are typically quite restricted to a narrow range around the goal point and as a bee gains experience, she flies faster during these flights; honeybee workers extend the range of these flights to cover increasing distances over time [53].…”

“…With experience, the bee will fly out in a straight line and will perform orientation flights only when local landmarks around the point of interest are disturbed. The principal function of these flights is to learn to recognize salient locations; thus, studies have compared outbound and return flights for correspondence in ground-nesting bees and in bumblebees (e.g., [54][55][56]). In the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, loops are components of learning flights that are more common when the bee is outbound than during return flights.…”

The choreography of learning walks in the Australian jack jumper antMyrmecia croslandi

“…The more familiar an insect is with the goal location, the shorter and less frequent learning flights and walks become (e.g. Collett and Lehrer, 1993;Lehrer, 1993;Lehrer and Collett, 1994;Zeil et al, 1996;Nicholson et al, 1999;Müller and Wehner, 2010;Robert et al, 2018). In both cases, learning involves moving along arcs and loops around the goal while backing away from it (e.g.…”

The role of spatial texture in visual control of bumblebee learning flights

“…Whilst variable in size and shape, loops increase in diameter over the duration of the flight and they usually end at, or close to, the nest (Philippides et al 2013 ). During their learning flights, bumblebees face the nest many times, memorising views that guide them back to the location of the nest (Hempel de Ibarra et al 2009 ; Collett et al 2013 ; Philippides et al 2013 ; Robert et al 2017 , 2018 ). Recordings of learning flights under natural conditions show that they achieve this by actively adjusting their body and head orientations (which are closely associated), with the result that these often diverge from the flight direction (Philippides et al 2013 ; Riabinina et al 2014 ).…”