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Flower-Visiting Insect Assemblages on Fall-Blooming Native California Sage Scrub Shrubs. DIVERSITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/d14110958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Pollinator studies in the endangered California sage scrub ecosystem have focused on spring insect assemblages, when most plant species bloom. Consequently, the insect assemblages using common fall-blooming sage scrub shrubs Lepidospartum squamatum, Ericameria pinifolia, and Baccharis pilularis remain undescribed. Our study aimed to: (1) document flower-visiting insect assemblages on fall-blooming shrubs, (2) assess the efficacy of three sampling techniques in inventorying insect assemblages, and (3) explore, using DNA metabarcoding, which plants are utilized and the extent to which surrounding suburban habitats’ plants are also used. While elevated sampling is required to inventory flower-visiting insects, we describe a diverse assemblage consisting of 123 species. Insect assemblages differed between L. squamatum and B. pilularis, as well as, E. pinifolia and B. pilularis, but not between L. squamatum and E. pinifolia. Direct sampling approaches (netting and photo documentation) collected 115 species not collected by passive malaise traps, highlighting that active observations are required to describe flower-visiting insect assemblages. Sequencing the ITS2 region of pollen from abundant visitors revealed that a majority of pollen is from the sage scrub ecosystem, highlighting its value. Our results indicate that the presence of fall-blooming shrubs may be critical for maintaining diverse sage scrub insect and pollinator assemblages.
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Linn M, Glaser SM, Peng T, Grüter C. Octopamine and dopamine mediate waggle dance following and information use in honeybees. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201950. [PMID: 33049176 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Honeybees can be directed to profitable food sources by following waggle dances performed by other bees. Followers can often choose between using this social information or relying on memories about food sources they have visited in the past, so-called private information. While the circumstances that favour the use of either social or private information have received considerable attention, still little is known about the neurophysiological basis of information use. We hypothesized that octopamine and dopamine, two biogenic amines with important functions in reward signalling and learning, affect dance use in honeybees. We orally administered octopamine and dopamine when bees collected food at artificial feeders and tested if this affected interest in dance information about a new food source. We predicted that octopamine reduces interest in dances and strengthens private information use via an increase in the perceived value of the previously exploited resource. Since dopamine has been shown to lower reward perception, we expected it to act in the opposite direction. Octopamine-treated foragers indeed followed 32% fewer dances than control bees and increased the use of private information. Conversely, dopamine-treated bees followed dances 15% longer than control bees, but surprisingly did not use social information more. Overall, our results suggest that biogenic amine signalling affects interactions among dancers and dance followers and, thus, information flow about high-quality food sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Linn
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Simone M Glaser
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Tianfei Peng
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Christoph Grüter
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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Grüter C, Czaczkes TJ. Communication in social insects and how it is shaped by individual experience. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.01.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Klein BA, Vogt M, Unrein K, Reineke DM. Followers of honey bee waggle dancers change their behaviour when dancers are sleep-restricted or perform imprecise dances. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Ants (Temnothorax nylanderi) adjust tandem running when food source distance exposes them to greater risks. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2453-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Wario F, Wild B, Rojas R, Landgraf T. Automatic detection and decoding of honey bee waggle dances. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188626. [PMID: 29236712 PMCID: PMC5728493 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2017] [Accepted: 11/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The waggle dance is one of the most popular examples of animal communication. Forager bees direct their nestmates to profitable resources via a complex motor display. Essentially, the dance encodes the polar coordinates to the resource in the field. Unemployed foragers follow the dancer’s movements and then search for the advertised spots in the field. Throughout the last decades, biologists have employed different techniques to measure key characteristics of the waggle dance and decode the information it conveys. Early techniques involved the use of protractors and stopwatches to measure the dance orientation and duration directly from the observation hive. Recent approaches employ digital video recordings and manual measurements on screen. However, manual approaches are very time-consuming. Most studies, therefore, regard only small numbers of animals in short periods of time. We have developed a system capable of automatically detecting, decoding and mapping communication dances in real-time. In this paper, we describe our recording setup, the image processing steps performed for dance detection and decoding and an algorithm to map dances to the field. The proposed system performs with a detection accuracy of 90.07%. The decoded waggle orientation has an average error of -2.92° (± 7.37°), well within the range of human error. To evaluate and exemplify the system’s performance, a group of bees was trained to an artificial feeder, and all dances in the colony were automatically detected, decoded and mapped. The system presented here is the first of this kind made publicly available, including source code and hardware specifications. We hope this will foster quantitative analyses of the honey bee waggle dance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Wario
- FB Mathematik und Informatik, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Benjamin Wild
- FB Mathematik und Informatik, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Raúl Rojas
- FB Mathematik und Informatik, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tim Landgraf
- FB Mathematik und Informatik, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Lam C, Li Y, Landgraf T, Nieh J. Dancing attraction: followers of honey bee tremble and waggle dances exhibit similar behaviors. Biol Open 2017; 6:810-817. [PMID: 28432104 PMCID: PMC5483029 DOI: 10.1242/bio.025445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The function of the honey bee tremble dance and how it attracts signal receivers is poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that tremble followers and waggle followers exhibit the same dance-following behavior. If correct, this could unify our understanding of dance following, provide insight into dance information transfer, and offer a way to identify the signal receivers of tremble dance information. Followers showed similar initial attraction to and tracking of dancers. However, waggle dancers were faster than tremble dancers, and follower-forward, -sideways, and -angular velocities were generally similar to the velocities of their respective dancers. Waggle dancers attracted followers from 1.3-fold greater distances away than tremble dancers. Both follower types were attracted to the lateral sides of dancers, but tremble followers were more attracted to the dancer's head, and waggle followers were more attracted to the dancer's abdomen. Tremble dancers engaged in 4-fold more brief food exchanges with their followers than waggle dancers. The behaviors of both follower types are therefore relatively conserved. Researchers can now take the next steps, observing tremble followers to determine their subsequent behaviors and testing the broader question of whether follower attraction and tracking is conserved in a wide range of social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Calvin Lam
- University of California San Diego, Section of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC0116, La Jolla, CA 92093-0116, USA
| | - Yanlei Li
- Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Mathematik und Informatik, Institut für Informatik, Arnimallee 7, Berlin 14195, Germany
| | - Tim Landgraf
- Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Mathematik und Informatik, Institut für Informatik, Arnimallee 7, Berlin 14195, Germany
| | - James Nieh
- University of California San Diego, Section of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC0116, La Jolla, CA 92093-0116, USA
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Wario F, Wild B, Couvillon MJ, Rojas R, Landgraf T. Automatic methods for long-term tracking and the detection and decoding of communication dances in honeybees. Front Ecol Evol 2015. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Beekman M, Makinson JC, Couvillon MJ, Preece K, Schaerf TM. Honeybee linguistics—a comparative analysis of the waggle dance among species of Apis. Front Ecol Evol 2015. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Preece K, Beekman M. Honeybee waggle dance error: adaption or constraint? Unravelling the complex dance language of honeybees. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.05.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Forster A, Czaczkes TJ, Warner E, Woodall T, Martin E, Ratnieks FLW, Herberstein M. Effect of Trail Bifurcation Asymmetry and Pheromone Presence or Absence on Trail Choice by Lasius niger Ants. Ethology 2014; 120:768-775. [PMID: 25400307 PMCID: PMC4204274 DOI: 10.1111/eth.12248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2013] [Revised: 01/18/2014] [Accepted: 04/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
During foraging, ant workers are known to make use of multiple information sources, such as private information (personal memory) and social information (trail pheromones). Environmental effects on foraging, and how these interact with other information sources, have, however, been little studied. One environmental effect is trail bifurcation asymmetry. Ants forage on branching trail networks and must often decide which branch to take at a junction (bifurcation). This is an important decision, as finding food sources relies on making the correct choices at bifurcations. Bifurcation angle may provide important information when making this choice. We used a Y-maze with a pivoting 90° bifurcation to study trail choice of Lasius niger foragers at varying branch asymmetries (0°, [both branches 45° from straight ahead], 30° [branches at 30° and 60° from straight ahead], 45°, 60° and 90° [one branch straight ahead, the other at 90°]). The experiment was carried out either with equal amounts of trail pheromone on both branches of the bifurcation or with pheromone present on only one branch. Our results show that with equal pheromone, trail asymmetry has a significant effect on trail choice. Ants preferentially follow the branch deviating least from straight, and this effect increases as asymmetry increases (47% at 0°, 54% at 30°, 57% at 45°, 66% at 60° and 73% at 90°). However, when pheromone is only present on one branch, the graded effect of asymmetry disappears. Overall, however, there is an effect of asymmetry as the preference of ants for the pheromone-marked branch over the unmarked branch is reduced from 65%, when it is the less deviating branch, to 53%, when it is the more deviating branch. These results demonstrate that trail asymmetry influences ant decision-making at bifurcations and that this information interacts with trail pheromone presence in a non-hierarchical manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia Forster
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex Brighton, UK
| | - Tomer J Czaczkes
- Biologie I, Universität Regensburg, Universitätsstraße Regensburg, Germany
| | - Emma Warner
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex Brighton, UK
| | - Tom Woodall
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex Brighton, UK
| | - Emily Martin
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex Brighton, UK
| | - Francis L W Ratnieks
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex Brighton, UK
| | - M Herberstein
- Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex Brighton, UK
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Insights from insects about adaptive social information use. Trends Ecol Evol 2014; 29:177-84. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2013] [Revised: 09/30/2013] [Accepted: 01/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Social learning strategies in honeybee foragers: do the costs of using private information affect the use of social information? Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.03.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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