Social Learning: Nectar Robbing Spreads Socially in Bumble Bees
نویسنده
چکیده
Social transmission of learned behaviour is well documented in vertebrates but much less so among invertebrates. New research shows that nectar robbing can spread socially among bumble bees, even in the absence of nectar-robbing models.
منابع مشابه
Social transmission of nectar-robbing behaviour in bumble-bees.
Social transmission of acquired foraging techniques is rarely considered outside of a vertebrate context. Here, however, we show that nectar robbing by bumble-bees (Bombus terrestris)-an invertebrate behaviour of considerable ecological significance-has the potential to spread through a population at the accelerated rates typical of social transmission. Nectar robbing occurs when individuals ei...
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Floral displays are under selection to both attract pollinators and deter antagonists. Here we show that a common floral trait, a nectar guide pattern, alters the behavior of bees that can act opportunistically as both pollinators and as antagonists. Generally, bees access nectar via the floral limb, transporting pollen through contact with the plant's reproductive structures; however bees some...
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Plants are under siege from a diversity of enemies that consume both leaf and floral parts. Plants resist damage to leaves in a variety of ways, and we now have a rich literature documenting how plants defend themselves against herbivore attack. In contrast, the mechanisms by which plants resist enemies that consume floral parts or resources are much less known, even though damage to floral tis...
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Nectar robbers are thought rarely to pollinate flowers, especially those with sexual organs hidden within corollas. In this study, we examined whether robbers pollinate flowers of distylous Primula secundiflora. Distylous plants have two floral morphs. Pin flowers have long styles and short stamens, and thrum flowers have short styles and long stamens. Flowers of P. secundiflora were commonly r...
متن کاملYeasts in nectar of an early-blooming herb: sought by bumble bees, detrimental to plant fecundity.
Through their effects on physicochemical features of floral nectar, nectar-dwelling yeasts can alter pollinator behavior, but the effect of such changes on pollination success and plant reproduction is unknown. We present results of experiments testing the effects of nectar yeasts on foraging patterns of captive and free-ranging bumble bees, and also on pollination success and fecundity of the ...
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 18 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2008