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Lafon G, Paoli M, Paffhausen BH, Sanchez GDB, Lihoreau M, Avarguès-Weber A, Giurfa M. Efficient visual learning by bumble bees in virtual-reality conditions: Size does not matter. INSECT SCIENCE 2023; 30:1734-1748. [PMID: 36734172 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Recent developments allowed establishing virtual-reality (VR) setups to study multiple aspects of visual learning in honey bees under controlled experimental conditions. Here, we adopted a VR environment to investigate the visual learning in the buff-tailed bumble bee Bombus terrestris. Based on responses to appetitive and aversive reinforcements used for conditioning, we show that bumble bees had the proper appetitive motivation to engage in the VR experiments and that they learned efficiently elemental color discriminations. In doing so, they reduced the latency to make a choice, increased the proportion of direct paths toward the virtual stimuli and walked faster toward them. Performance in a short-term retention test showed that bumble bees chose and fixated longer on the correct stimulus in the absence of reinforcement. Body size and weight, although variable across individuals, did not affect cognitive performances and had a mild impact on motor performances. Overall, we show that bumble bees are suitable experimental subjects for experiments on visual learning under VR conditions, which opens important perspectives for invasive studies on the neural and molecular bases of such learning given the robustness of these insects and the accessibility of their brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Lafon
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), University of Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Marco Paoli
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), University of Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Benjamin H Paffhausen
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), University of Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Gabriela de Brito Sanchez
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), University of Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), University of Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Aurore Avarguès-Weber
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), University of Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
| | - Martin Giurfa
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), University of Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
- French Academy of Sciences for University Professors, Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
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2
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Barbosa BC, Delgado de Lima TD, Mota GV, Nogueira A. The role of intraspecific variation in bumblebee body size and behavior on buzz pollination of a tropical legume species. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2023; 110:e16236. [PMID: 37661849 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE The outcomes of generalized mutualisms rely on partner trait variation. In pollination mutualisms, although less explored, intraspecific variation in pollinator traits can be pivotal for successful pollination. We investigated the role of intraspecific body size and behavioral trait variations of bumblebee Bombus morio on the pollination of a buzz-pollinated legume species, Chamaecrista latistipula. METHODS To explore the impact of body size and behavior of B. morio on the pollination of C. latistipula, we observed visits to virgin flowers and quantified the pollen removal and deposition (pollination performance) and fruit and seed production (reproductive fitness). By analyzing video and sound recordings, we measured B. morio body size and behavior on each flower, including bee vibration descriptors. RESULTS We observed intraspecific behavioral differences among B. morio bumblebees associated with different body sizes. Larger bumblebees had half the handling time and vibrational pulses, less angular displacement within flowers, and larger relative peak amplitudes during vibrations than smaller bumblebees did. Regardless of their large variation in size and behavior, bumblebees were equally effective in removing pollen and pollinating flowers. The high female reproductive fitness was independent of bumblebee body size and behavior, likely due to the interaction between both. On the other hand, larger bumblebees visited flowers for shorter periods, probably promoting higher male reproductive fitness. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first to highlight the large intraspecific variation of bumblebee body size and behavior in buzz-pollinated flowers in the field. Together, body size and behavior effects unexpectedly cancel each other, generating a high buzz pollination efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruna C Barbosa
- Laboratório de Interações Planta-Animal (LIPA), Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Evolução e Diversidade, Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil
| | - Tamiris D Delgado de Lima
- Laboratório de Interações Planta-Animal (LIPA), Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil
- Programa de Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Botânica), Instituto de Biociências, UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brazil
| | - Guilherme V Mota
- Laboratório de Interações Planta-Animal (LIPA), Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil
| | - Anselmo Nogueira
- Laboratório de Interações Planta-Animal (LIPA), Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil
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3
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Yourstone J, Varadarajan V, Olsson O. Bumblebee flower constancy and pollen diversity over time. Behav Ecol 2023; 34:602-612. [PMID: 37434641 PMCID: PMC10332455 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arad028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Revised: 03/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Bees often focus their foraging effort on a few or even a single flower species, even if other equally rewarding flower species are present. Although this phenomenon-called flower constancy-has been widely documented during single foraging trips, it is largely unknown if the behavior persists over longer time periods, especially under field conditions with large temporal variations of resources. We studied the pollen diet of individuals from nine different Bombus terrestris colonies for up to 6 weeks, to investigate flower constancy and pollen diversity of individuals and colonies, and how these change over time. We expected high degrees of flower constancy and foraging consistency over time, based on foraging theory and previous studies. Instead, we found that only 23% of the pollen foraging trips were flower constant. The fraction of constant pollen samples did not change over the study period, although repeatedly sampled individuals that were flower constant once often showed different preferences at other sampling occasions. The similarity of pollen composition in samples collected by the same individuals at different occasions dropped with time. This suggests that the flower preferences change in response to shifting floral resources. The average diversity of pollen from single foraging trips was around 2.5 pollen types, while the colony-level pollen diversity was about three times higher. How rapidly preferences change in response to shifting resources, and if this differs between and within bee species depending on factors such as size, should be the focus of future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Yourstone
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, 223 62 Lund, Sweden and
| | - Vidula Varadarajan
- School of Arts and Science, Azim Premji University, Survey No 66, Burugunte Village, Bikkanahalli Main Road, Sarjapura, Bengaluru 562125, India
| | - Ola Olsson
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, 223 62 Lund, Sweden and
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4
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Fitzgerald JL, Ogilvie JE, CaraDonna PJ. Ecological Drivers and Consequences of Bumble Bee Body Size Variation. ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY 2022; 51:1055-1068. [PMID: 36373400 DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvac093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Body size is arguably one of the most important traits influencing the physiology and ecology of animals. Shifts in animal body size have been observed in response to climate change, including in bumble bees (Bombus spp. [Hymenoptera: Apidae]). Bumble bee size shifts have occurred concurrently with the precipitous population declines of several species, which appear to be related, in part, to their size. Body size variation is central to the ecology of bumble bees, from their social organization to the pollination services they provide to plants. If bumble bee size is shifted or constrained, there may be consequences for the pollination services they provide and for our ability to predict their responses to global change. Yet, there are still many aspects of the breadth and role of bumble bee body size variation that require more study. To this end, we review the current evidence of the ecological drivers of size variation in bumble bees and the consequences of that variation on bumble bee fitness, foraging, and species interactions. In total we review: (1) the proximate determinants and physiological consequences of size variation in bumble bees; (2) the environmental drivers and ecological consequences of size variation; and (3) synthesize our understanding of size variation in predicting how bumble bees will respond to future changes in climate and land use. As global change intensifies, a better understanding of the factors influencing the size distributions of bumble bees, and the consequences of those distributions, will allow us to better predict future responses of these pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacquelyn L Fitzgerald
- Plant Biology and Conservation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60201, USA
- Chicago Botanic Garden, Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science & Action, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA
| | - Jane E Ogilvie
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA
| | - Paul J CaraDonna
- Plant Biology and Conservation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60201, USA
- Chicago Botanic Garden, Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science & Action, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA
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5
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Prior associations affect bumblebees’ generalization performance in a tool-selection task. iScience 2022; 25:105466. [DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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6
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Crone MK, Biddinger DJ, Grozinger CM. Wild Bee Nutritional Ecology: Integrative Strategies to Assess Foraging Preferences and Nutritional Requirements. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2022.847003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Bees depend on flowering plants for their nutrition, and reduced availability of floral resources is a major driver of declines in both managed and wild bee populations. Understanding the nutritional needs of different bee species, and how these needs are met by the varying nutritional resources provided by different flowering plant taxa, can greatly inform land management recommendations to support bee populations and their associated ecosystem services. However, most bee nutrition research has focused on the three most commonly managed and commercially reared bee taxa—honey bees, bumble bees, and mason bees—with fewer studies focused on wild bees and other managed species, such as leafcutting bees, stingless bees, and alkali bees. Thus, we have limited information about the nutritional requirements and foraging preferences of the vast majority of bee species. Here, we discuss the approaches traditionally used to understand bee nutritional ecology: identification of floral visitors of selected focal plant species, evaluation of the foraging preferences of adults in selected focal bee species, evaluation of the nutritional requirements of focal bee species (larvae or adults) in controlled settings, and examine how these methods may be adapted to study a wider range of bee species. We also highlight emerging technologies that have the potential to greatly facilitate studies of the nutritional ecology of wild bee species, as well as evaluate bee nutritional ecology at significantly larger spatio-temporal scales than were previously feasible. While the focus of this review is on bee species, many of these techniques can be applied to other pollinator taxa as well.
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7
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Memory-guided foraging and landscape design interact to determine ecosystem services. J Theor Biol 2022; 534:110958. [PMID: 34748733 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Revised: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Many studies examine how the landscape affects memory-informed movement patterns, but very few examine how memory-informed foragers influence the landscape. This reverse relationship is an important factor in preventing the continued decline of many ecosystem services. We investigate this question in the context of crop pollination services by wild bees, a critical ecosystem service that is in steep decline. Many studies suggest that adding wild flower patches near crops can result in higher crop pollination services, but specific advice pertaining to the optimal location and density of these wild flower patches is lacking, as well as any estimate of the expected change in crop pollination services. In this work, we seek to understand what is the optimal placement of a flower patch relative to a single crop field, during crop bloom and considering spatial factors alone. We develop an individual based model of memory-based foraging by bumble bees to simulate bee movement from a single nest while the crop is in bloom, and measure the resulting crop pollination services. We consider a single crop field enhanced with a wild flower patch in a variable location, and measure crop flower visitation over the course of a single day. We analyze the pollination intensity and spatial distribution of flower visits to determine optimal wild flower patch placement for an isolated crop field. We find that the spatial arrangement of crop and wild flower patch have a significant effect on the number of crop flower visits, and that these effects arise from the memory-informed foraging pattern. The most effective planting locations are either in the centre of the crop field or on the far side of the crop field, away from the single bumble bee nest.
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8
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MacKenzie EL, Goulson D, Rotheray EL. Investigating the Foraging, Guarding and Drifting Behaviors of Commercial Bombus terrestris. JOURNAL OF INSECT BEHAVIOR 2022; 34:334-345. [PMID: 35185281 PMCID: PMC8813815 DOI: 10.1007/s10905-021-09790-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Social insects have high levels of cooperation and division of labor. In bumble bees this is partly size-based, with larger bees performing tasks outside the nest and smaller bees remaining inside, although bumble bees still display considerable behavioral plasticity. The level of specialization in tasks outside the colony, including foraging, guarding and drifting (entering a foreign colony), is currently unknown for bumble bees. This study aimed to assess division of labor between outside tasks and the degree of specialization in foraging, guarding, and switching colonies in commercially reared bumble bees placed in the field. Nine factory-bought Bombus terrestris colonies were placed on three farms in Sussex, UK, between June and August 2015. Forty workers from each colony were radio-tagged and a reader on the colony entrance recorded the date, time and bee ID as they passed. The length and frequency of foraging trips and guarding behavior were calculated, and drifting recorded. The mean (±SD) length of foraging trips was 45 ± 36 min, and the mean number of foraging trips per day was 7.75 ± 7.71. Low levels of specialization in guarding or foraging behavior were found; however, some bees appeared to guard more frequently than others, and twenty bees were categorized as guards. Five bees appeared to exhibit repeated "stealing" behavior, which may have been a specialist task. The division of labor between tasks was not size-based. It is concluded that commercial bumble bees are flexible in performing outside nest tasks and may have diverse foraging strategies including intra-specific nest robbing. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10905-021-09790-0.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dave Goulson
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, BN1 9QG UK
| | - Ellen L Rotheray
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, BN1 9QG UK
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9
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Mueller JM, Zhang N, Carlson JM, Simpson JH. Variation and Variability in Drosophila Grooming Behavior. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 15:769372. [PMID: 35087385 PMCID: PMC8787196 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.769372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Behavioral differences can be observed between species or populations (variation) or between individuals in a genetically similar population (variability). Here, we investigate genetic differences as a possible source of variation and variability in Drosophila grooming. Grooming confers survival and social benefits. Grooming features of five Drosophila species exposed to a dust irritant were analyzed. Aspects of grooming behavior, such as anterior to posterior progression, were conserved between and within species. However, significant differences in activity levels, proportion of time spent in different cleaning movements, and grooming syntax were identified between species. All species tested showed individual variability in the order and duration of action sequences. Genetic diversity was not found to correlate with grooming variability within a species: melanogaster flies bred to increase or decrease genetic heterogeneity exhibited similar variability in grooming syntax. Individual flies observed on consecutive days also showed grooming sequence variability. Standardization of sensory input using optogenetics reduced but did not eliminate this variability. In aggregate, these data suggest that sequence variability may be a conserved feature of grooming behavior itself. These results also demonstrate that large genetic differences result in distinguishable grooming phenotypes (variation), but that genetic heterogeneity within a population does not necessarily correspond to an increase in the range of grooming behavior (variability).
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M. Mueller
- Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Dynamical Neuroscience, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Neil Zhang
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Jean M. Carlson
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Julie H. Simpson
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- *Correspondence: Julie H. Simpson,
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10
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Perl CD, Johansen ZB, Jie VW, Moradinour Z, Guiraud M, Restrepo CE, Miettinen A, Baird E. Substantial variability in morphological scaling among bumblebee colonies. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211436. [PMID: 35242346 PMCID: PMC8753140 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Differences in organ scaling among individuals may play an important role in determining behavioural variation. In social insects, there are well-documented intraspecific differences in colony behaviour, but the extent that organ scaling differs within and between colonies remains unclear. Using 12 different colonies of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, we aim to address this knowledge gap by measuring the scaling relationships between three different organs (compound eyes, wings and antennae) and body size in workers. Though colonies were exposed to different rearing temperatures, this environmental variability did not explain the differences of the scaling relationships. Two colonies had differences in wing versus antenna slopes, three colonies showed differences in wing versus eye slopes and a single colony has differences between eye versus antenna slopes. There are also differences in antennae scaling slopes between three different colonies, and we present evidence for putative trade-offs in morphological investment. We discuss the utility of having variable scaling among colonies and the implication for understanding variability in colony fitness and behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. D. Perl
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund 223 62, Sweden
| | - Z. B. Johansen
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - V. W. Jie
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - Z. Moradinour
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - M. Guiraud
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - C. E. Restrepo
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - A. Miettinen
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5234 Villigen, Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - E. Baird
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund 223 62, Sweden
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11
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Naug D, Tait C. Slow-Fast Cognitive Phenotypes and Their Significance for Social Behavior: What Can We Learn From Honeybees? Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.766414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive variation is proposed to be the fundamental underlying factor that drives behavioral variation, yet it is still to be fully integrated with the observed variation at other phenotypic levels that has recently been unified under the common pace-of-life framework. This cognitive and the resulting behavioral diversity is especially significant in the context of a social group, the performance of which is a collective outcome of this diversity. In this review, we argue about the utility of classifying cognitive traits along a slow-fast continuum in the larger context of the pace-of-life framework. Using Tinbergen’s explanatory framework for different levels of analyses and drawing from the large body of knowledge about honeybee behavior, we discuss the observed interindividual variation in cognitive traits and slow-fast cognitive phenotypes from an adaptive, evolutionary, mechanistic and developmental perspective. We discuss the challenges in this endeavor and suggest possible next steps in terms of methodological, statistical and theoretical approaches to move the field forward for an integrative understanding of how slow-fast cognitive differences, by influencing collective behavior, impact social evolution.
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12
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Hageter J, Waalkes M, Starkey J, Copeland H, Price H, Bays L, Showman C, Laverty S, Bergeron SA, Horstick EJ. Environmental and Molecular Modulation of Motor Individuality in Larval Zebrafish. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:777778. [PMID: 34938167 PMCID: PMC8685292 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.777778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Innate behavioral biases such as human handedness are a ubiquitous form of inter-individual variation that are not strictly hardwired into the genome and are influenced by diverse internal and external cues. Yet, genetic and environmental factors modulating behavioral variation remain poorly understood, especially in vertebrates. To identify genetic and environmental factors that influence behavioral variation, we take advantage of larval zebrafish light-search behavior. During light-search, individuals preferentially turn in leftward or rightward loops, in which directional bias is sustained and non-heritable. Our previous work has shown that bias is maintained by a habenula-rostral PT circuit and genes associated with Notch signaling. Here we use a medium-throughput recording strategy and unbiased analysis to show that significant individual to individual variation exists in wildtype larval zebrafish turning preference. We classify stable left, right, and unbiased turning types, with most individuals exhibiting a directional preference. We show unbiased behavior is not due to a loss of photo-responsiveness but reduced persistence in same-direction turning. Raising larvae at elevated temperature selectively reduces the leftward turning type and impacts rostral PT neurons, specifically. Exposure to conspecifics, variable salinity, environmental enrichment, and physical disturbance does not significantly impact inter-individual turning bias. Pharmacological manipulation of Notch signaling disrupts habenula development and turn bias individuality in a dose dependent manner, establishing a direct role of Notch signaling. Last, a mutant allele of a known Notch pathway affecter gene, gsx2, disrupts turn bias individuality, implicating that brain regions independent of the previously established habenula-rostral PT likely contribute to inter-individual variation. These results establish that larval zebrafish is a powerful vertebrate model for inter-individual variation with established neural targets showing sensitivity to specific environmental and gene signaling disruptions. Our results provide new insight into how variation is generated in the vertebrate nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Hageter
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Matthew Waalkes
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Jacob Starkey
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Haylee Copeland
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Heather Price
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Logan Bays
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Casey Showman
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Sean Laverty
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK, United States
| | - Sadie A. Bergeron
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
- Department of Neuroscience, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Eric J. Horstick
- Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
- Department of Neuroscience, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
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13
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Malfi RL, Crone E, Rundlöf M, Williams NM. Early resources lead to persistent benefits for bumble bee colony dynamics. Ecology 2021; 103:e03560. [PMID: 34657285 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Conditions experienced early in development can affect the future performance of individuals and populations. Demographic theories predict persistent population impacts of past resources, but few studies have experimentally tested such carry-over effects across generations or cohorts. We used bumble bees to test whether resource timing had persistent effects on within-colony dynamics over sequential cohorts of workers. We simulated a resource pulse for field colonies either early or late in their development and estimated colony growth rates during pulse- and non-pulse periods. During periods when resources were not supplemented, early-pulse colonies grew faster than late-pulse colonies; early-pulse colonies grew larger as a result. These results revealed persistent effects of past resources on current growth and support the importance of transient dynamics in natural ecological systems. Early-pulse colonies also produced more queen offspring, highlighting the critical nature of resource timing for the population, as well as colony, dynamics of a key pollinator.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemary L Malfi
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
| | - Elizabeth Crone
- Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, 02155, USA
| | - Maj Rundlöf
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA.,Department of Biology, Lund University, SE-223 62, Lund, Sweden
| | - Neal M Williams
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
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14
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Dubois T, Pasquaretta C, Barron AB, Gautrais J, Lihoreau M. A model of resource partitioning between foraging bees based on learning. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009260. [PMID: 34319987 PMCID: PMC8351995 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Central place foraging pollinators tend to develop multi-destination routes (traplines) to exploit patchily distributed plant resources. While the formation of traplines by individual pollinators has been studied in detail, how populations of foragers use resources in a common area is an open question, difficult to address experimentally. We explored conditions for the emergence of resource partitioning among traplining bees using agent-based models built from experimental data of bumblebees foraging on artificial flowers. In the models, bees learn to develop routes as a consequence of feedback loops that change their probabilities of moving between flowers. While a positive reinforcement of movements leading to rewarding flowers is sufficient for the emergence of resource partitioning when flowers are evenly distributed, the addition of a negative reinforcement of movements leading to unrewarding flowers is necessary when flowers are patchily distributed. In environments with more complex spatial structures, the negative experiences of individual bees on flowers favour spatial segregation and efficient collective foraging. Our study fills a major gap in modelling pollinator behaviour and constitutes a unique tool to guide future experimental programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thibault Dubois
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier–Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Cristian Pasquaretta
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier–Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
| | - Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Jacques Gautrais
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier–Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI); CNRS, University Paul Sabatier–Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
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15
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Fragoso FP, Jiang Q, Clayton MK, Brunet J. Patch selection by bumble bees navigating discontinuous landscapes. Sci Rep 2021; 11:8986. [PMID: 33903682 PMCID: PMC8076261 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88394-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Pollen and nectar resources are unevenly distributed over space and bees must make routing decisions when navigating patchy resources. Determining the patch selection process used by bees is crucial to understanding bee foraging over discontinuous landscapes. To elucidate this process, we developed four distinct probability models of bee movement where the size and the distance to the patch determined the attractiveness of a patch. A field experiment with a center patch and four peripheral patches of two distinct sizes and distances from the center was set up in two configurations. Empirical transition probabilities from the center to each peripheral patch were obtained at two sites and two years. The best model was identified by comparing observed and predicted transition probabilities, where predicted values were obtained by incorporating the spatial dimensions of the field experiment into each model's mathematical expression. Bumble bees used both patch size and isolation distance when selecting a patch and could assess the total amount of resources available in a patch. Bumble bees prefer large, nearby patches. This information will facilitate the development of a predictive framework to the study of bee movement and of models that predict the movement of genetically engineered pollen in bee-pollinated crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabiana P. Fragoso
- grid.410547.30000 0001 1013 9784Agricultural Research Service Research Participation Program, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, 455 Science Drive, Madison, WI 53711 USA
| | - Qi Jiang
- grid.14003.360000 0001 2167 3675Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1300 University Ave, Madison, WI 53706 USA ,grid.467375.40000 0004 0443 827XPresent Address: Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282 USA
| | - Murray K. Clayton
- grid.14003.360000 0001 2167 3675Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1300 University Ave, Madison, WI 53706 USA
| | - Johanne Brunet
- grid.508983.fUnited States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Vegetable Crops Research Unit, 455 Science Drive, Madison, WI 53711 USA
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16
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Holland JG, Nakayama S, Porfiri M, Nov O, Bloch G. Body Size and Behavioural Plasticity Interact to Influence the Performance of Free-Foraging Bumble Bee Colonies. INSECTS 2021; 12:236. [PMID: 33802199 PMCID: PMC8001989 DOI: 10.3390/insects12030236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Specialisation and plasticity are important for many forms of collective behaviour, but the interplay between these factors is little understood. In insect societies, workers are often developmentally primed to specialise in different tasks, sometimes with morphological or physiological adaptations, facilitating a division of labour. Workers may also plastically switch between tasks or vary their effort. The degree to which developmentally primed specialisation limits plasticity is not clear and has not been systematically tested in ecologically relevant contexts. We addressed this question in 20 free-foraging bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) colonies by continually manipulating colonies to contain either a typically diverse, or a reduced ("homogeneous"), worker body size distribution while keeping the same mean body size, over two trials. Pooling both trials, diverse colonies produced a larger comb mass, an index of colony performance. The link between body size and task was further corroborated by the finding that foragers were larger than nurses even in homogeneous colonies with a very narrow body size range. However, the overall effect of size diversity stemmed mostly from one trial. In the other trial, homogeneous and diverse colonies showed comparable performance. By comparing behavioural profiles based on several thousand observations of individuals, we found evidence that workers in homogeneous colonies in this trial rescued colony performance by plastically increasing behavioural specialisation and/or individual effort, compared to same-sized individuals in diverse colonies. Our results are consistent with a benefit to colonies of large and small specialists under certain conditions, but also suggest that plasticity or effort can compensate for reduced (size-related) specialisation. Thus, we suggest that an intricate interplay between specialisation and plasticity is functionally adaptive in bumble bee colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob G. Holland
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behaviour, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Shinnosuke Nakayama
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA; (S.N.); (M.P.)
| | - Maurizio Porfiri
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA; (S.N.); (M.P.)
- Center for Urban Science and Progress, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
| | - Oded Nov
- Department of Technology Management and Innovation, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA;
| | - Guy Bloch
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behaviour, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
- The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
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17
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Romero-González JE, Solvi C, Chittka L. Honey bees adjust colour preferences in response to concurrent social information from conspecifics and heterospecifics. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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18
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Torres-Vanegas F, Hadley AS, Kormann UG, Jones FA, Betts MG, Wagner HH. The Landscape Genetic Signature of Pollination by Trapliners: Evidence From the Tropical Herb, Heliconia tortuosa. Front Genet 2019; 10:1206. [PMID: 31867039 PMCID: PMC6906188 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.01206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal-mediated pollination is essential for the maintenance of plant reproduction, especially in tropical ecosystems, where pollination networks have been thought to have highly generalized structures. However, accumulating evidence suggests that not all floral visitors provide equally effective pollination services, potentially reducing the number of realized pollinators and increasing the cryptic specialization of pollination networks. Thus, there is a need to understand how different functional groups of pollinators influence pollination success. Here, we examined whether patterns of contemporary pollen-mediated gene flow in Heliconia tortuosa are consistent with the foraging strategy of its territorial or traplining hummingbird pollinators. Territorial hummingbirds defend clumps of flowers and are expected to transfer pollen locally. In contrast, traplining hummingbirds forage across longer distances, thereby increasing pollen flow among forest fragments, and are thought to repeatedly visit particular plants. If trapliners indeed visit the same plants repeatedly along their regular routes, this could lead to a situation where neighboring plants sample genetically distinct pollen pools. To test this hypothesis, we genotyped 720 seeds and 71 mother plants from 18 forest fragments at 11 microsatellite loci. We performed TwoGener analysis to test pollen pool differentiation within sites (among neighboring plants within the same forest fragment: ΦSC) and between sites (among forest fragments: ΦCT). We found strong, statistically significant pollen pool differentiation among neighboring mother plants (ΦSC = 0.0506), and weaker, statistically significant differentiation among sites (ΦCT = 0.0285). We interpret this pattern of hierarchical pollen pool differentiation as the landscape genetic signature of the foraging strategy of traplining hummingbirds, where repeatable, long-distance, and high-fidelity routes transfer pollen among particular plants. Although H. tortuosa is also visited by territorial hummingbirds, our results suggest that these pollinators do not contribute substantially to successful pollination, highlighting differences in realized pollination efficiency. This cryptic reduction in the number of realized pollinators potentially increases the vulnerability of pollination success to the decline of populations of traplining hummingbirds, which have been shown to be sensitive to forest fragmentation. We conclude that maintaining habitat connectivity to sustain the foraging routes of trapliners may be essential for the maintenance of pollen-mediated gene flow in human-modified landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felipe Torres-Vanegas
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada
| | - Adam S Hadley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada.,Forest Biodiversity Research Network, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
| | - Urs G Kormann
- Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland
| | - Frank Andrew Jones
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, Panama
| | - Matthew G Betts
- Forest Biodiversity Research Network, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
| | - Helene H Wagner
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada
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19
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Krishna S, Keasar T. Bumblebees forage on flowers of increasingly complex morphologies despite low success. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.06.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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20
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Interindividual variation in learning ability in honeybees. Behav Processes 2019; 167:103918. [PMID: 31351114 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2018] [Revised: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Performance on different cognitive tasks could either be positively correlated in an individual as a measure of general intelligence or costs related to specific aspects of cognition could give rise to specialized cognitive phenotypes. Social living offers the potential for individual specialization in learning and a cooperative group can benefit from a diversity of learning phenotypes. However, there is little empirical data regarding the nature of such interindividual variation in learning abilities in honeybees, a classic model of animal cognition. We tested for the presence of variation in learning abilities in the honeybee, Apis mellifera, and whether any component of learning has an influence on wing damage, a proxy for performance and survival. Our results show considerable interindividual variation in different types of learning abilities. At the individual level, while landmark and olfactory learning abilities are negatively correlated, olfactory learning shows a positive association with maneuverability performance, a measure which in turn shows a positive influence on wing damage, a proxy for survival. We discuss our results in the context of cognitive diversity and specialization in a social group.
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21
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Honey bees increase their foraging performance and frequency of pollen trips through experience. Sci Rep 2019; 9:6778. [PMID: 31043647 PMCID: PMC6494865 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-42677-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2018] [Accepted: 04/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Honey bee foragers must supply their colony with a balance of pollen and nectar to sustain optimal colony development. Inter-individual behavioural variability among foragers is observed in terms of activity levels and nectar vs. pollen collection, however the causes of such variation are still open questions. Here we explored the relationship between foraging activity and foraging performance in honey bees (Apis mellifera) by using an automated behaviour monitoring system to record mass on departing the hive, trip duration, presence of pollen on the hind legs and mass upon return to the hive, during the lifelong foraging career of individual bees. In our colonies, only a subset of foragers collected pollen, and no bee exclusively foraged for pollen. A minority of very active bees (19% of the foragers) performed 50% of the colony’s total foraging trips, contributing to both pollen and nectar collection. Foraging performance (amount and rate of food collection) depended on bees’ individual experience (amount of foraging trips completed). We argue that this reveals an important vulnerability for these social bees since environmental stressors that alter the activity and reduce the lifespan of foragers may prevent bees ever achieving maximal performance, thereby seriously compromising the effectiveness of the colony foraging force.
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22
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Morton FB, Altschul D. Data reduction analyses of animal behaviour: avoiding Kaiser's criterion and adopting more robust automated methods. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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23
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Disease outbreak thresholds emerge from interactions between movement behavior, landscape structure, and epidemiology. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:7374-7379. [PMID: 29941567 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1801383115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Disease models have provided conflicting evidence as to whether spatial heterogeneity promotes or impedes pathogen persistence. Moreover, there has been limited theoretical investigation into how animal movement behavior interacts with the spatial organization of resources (e.g., clustered, random, uniform) across a landscape to affect infectious disease dynamics. Importantly, spatial heterogeneity of resources can sometimes lead to nonlinear or counterintuitive outcomes depending on the host and pathogen system. There is a clear need to develop a general theoretical framework that could be used to create testable predictions for specific host-pathogen systems. Here, we develop an individual-based model integrated with movement ecology approaches to investigate how host movement behaviors interact with landscape heterogeneity (in the form of various levels of resource abundance and clustering) to affect pathogen dynamics. For most of the parameter space, our results support the counterintuitive idea that fragmentation promotes pathogen persistence, but this finding was largely dependent on perceptual range of the host, conspecific density, and recovery rate. For simulations with high conspecific density, slower recovery rates, and larger perceptual ranges, more complex disease dynamics emerged, and the most fragmented landscapes were not necessarily the most conducive to outbreaks or pathogen persistence. These results point to the importance of interactions between landscape structure, individual movement behavior, and pathogen transmission for predicting and understanding disease dynamics.
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24
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Crall JD, Gravish N, Mountcastle AM, Kocher SD, Oppenheimer RL, Pierce NE, Combes SA. Spatial fidelity of workers predicts collective response to disturbance in a social insect. Nat Commun 2018; 9:1201. [PMID: 29615611 PMCID: PMC5882771 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03561-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 02/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals in social insect colonies cooperate to perform collective work. While colonies often respond to changing environmental conditions by flexibly reallocating workers to different tasks, the factors determining which workers switch and why are not well understood. Here, we use an automated tracking system to continuously monitor nest behavior and foraging activity of uniquely identified workers from entire bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) colonies foraging in a natural outdoor environment. We show that most foraging is performed by a small number of workers and that the intensity and distribution of foraging is actively regulated at the colony level in response to forager removal. By analyzing worker nest behavior before and after forager removal, we show that spatial fidelity of workers within the nest generates uneven interaction with relevant localized information sources, and predicts which workers initiate foraging after disturbance. Our results highlight the importance of spatial fidelity for structuring information flow and regulating collective behavior in social insect colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- James D Crall
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, 02143, USA.
| | - Nick Gravish
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, Engineer Ln, San Diego, CA, 92161, USA
| | | | - Sarah D Kocher
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Robert L Oppenheimer
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, 105 Main St., Durham, NH, 03824, USA
| | - Naomi E Pierce
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, 02143, USA
| | - Stacey A Combes
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
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25
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Woodgate JL, Makinson JC, Lim KS, Reynolds AM, Chittka L. Continuous Radar Tracking Illustrates the Development of Multi-destination Routes of Bumblebees. Sci Rep 2017; 7:17323. [PMID: 29230062 PMCID: PMC5725577 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17553-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2017] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals that visit multiple foraging sites face a problem, analogous to the Travelling Salesman Problem, of finding an efficient route. We explored bumblebees' route development on an array of five artificial flowers in which minimising travel distances between individual feeders conflicted with minimising overall distance. No previous study of bee spatial navigation has been able to follow animals' movement during learning; we tracked bumblebee foragers continuously, using harmonic radar, and examined the process of route formation in detail for a small number of selected individuals. On our array, bees did not settle on visit sequences that gave the shortest overall path, but prioritised movements to nearby feeders. Nonetheless, flight distance and duration reduced with experience. This increased efficiency was attributable mainly to experienced bees reducing exploration beyond the feeder array and flights becoming straighter with experience, rather than improvements in the sequence of feeder visits. Flight paths of all legs of a flight stabilised at similar rates, whereas the first few feeder visits became fixed early while bees continued to experiment with the order of later visits. Stabilising early sections of a route and prioritising travel between nearby destinations may reduce the search space, allowing rapid adoption of efficient routes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph L Woodgate
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK.
- Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK.
| | - James C Makinson
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
- Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK
| | - Ka S Lim
- Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK
| | - Andrew M Reynolds
- Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK
| | - Lars Chittka
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin Institute for Advanced Study, Wallotstrasse 19, Berlin, D-14193, Germany
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26
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Exploratory behavior of a native anuran species with high invasive potential. Anim Cogn 2017; 21:55-65. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1138-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Revised: 09/29/2017] [Accepted: 10/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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