Getting to the start line: how bumblebees and honeybees are visually guided towards their first floral contact

• Published in: Insectes sociaux Vol. 61; no. 4; pp. 325 - 336
• Main Authors: Orbán, L. L, Plowright, C. M. S
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Basel Springer-Verlag 2014; Springer Basel; Birkhäuser
• Subjects: Animal ethology; Apis mellifera; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bombus; color; Entomology; flowers; foraging; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; honey bees; learning; Life Sciences; Protozoa. Invertebrata; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Review; Review Article; Flower-naïve; Innate; Unlearned behaviour; Bumblebees; Honeybees; Visual recognition; Inborn; Flower; Insecta; Apidae; Social insect; Foraging behavior; Bombus; Apis mellifera; Pollinator; Visual stimulus; Apoidea; Arthropoda; Flower visiting; Behavior; Hymenoptera; Invertebrata; Recognition; Aculeata
• ISSN: 0020-1812; 1420-9098
• DOI: 10.1007/s00040-014-0366-2

Much of the literature on foraging behaviour in bees focuses on what they learn after they have had rewarded experience with flowers. This review focuses on how honeybees and bumblebees are drawn to candidate food sources in the first place: the foundation on which learning is built. Prior to rewarded foraging experience, flower-naïve bumblebees and honeybees rely heavily on visual cues to discover their first flower. This review lists methodological issues that surround the study of flower-naïve behaviour and describes technological advances. The role of distinct visual properties of flowers in attracting bees is considered: colour, floral size, patterning and social cues. The research reviewed is multi-disciplinary and takes the perspectives of both the bees and the plants they visit. Several avenues for future research are proposed.