Bumblebees can remember the patterns, colors and scents of different flowers, researchers have discovered. But memory can fail in the bumblebee, just as it does in humans.
In a laboratory, Lars Chittka, a behavioral ecologist at Queen Mary University of London, and his colleagues trained bumblebees to expect a reward when they visited a solid yellow artificial flower and one with black and white rings.
In a follow-up test minutes later in which no rewards were offered, the bees were shown the same two flowers, as well as one with yellow and white rings — a combination of the two originals. The bees showed a clear preference for the original flowers.
But a day later, when Dr. Chittka ran the same test, the bees became confused, sometimes heading toward the hybrid flower. After three days, the bees opted for the hybrid flower half the time.
Like humans, bees use memories to create rules about their environment — in this case, rules about flowers that provide nectar, Dr. Chittka said. Now, he and his colleagues are using radar to monitor bees’ flower choices over their lifetimes. SINDYA N. BHANOO
- http://bit.ly/1zSKpBN
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu