A novel protocol for studying bee cognition in the wild

Muth, Felicity; Cooper, Trenton R.; Bonilla, Rene F.; Leonard, Anne S.

doi:10.1111/2041-210x.12852

Cited by 51 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…We measured learning abilities in wild individuals of 32 bee species captured in the wild, and then used a phylogenetic comparative framework to test whether species that performed better in the learning task had larger absolute and/or relative brains. Learning abilities were measured with a novel quick-to-perform experimental method proposed by Muth et al ., 2017 to assess speed at colour learning. Associative learning is a highly developed cognitive ability in bees with substantial ecological relevance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain size predicts learning abilities in bees

Collado

Montaner

Molina

et al. 2020

Preprint

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A large brain is widely considered a distinctive feature of intelligence, a notion that mostly derives from studies in mammals. However, studies in inse cts demonstrates that cognitively sophisticated processes, such as social learning and tool use, are still possible with very small brains . Even after accounting for the allometric effect of body size , substantial variation in brain size still remains unexplained. A plausible advantage of a disproportionately larger brain might be an enhanced ability to learn new behaviors to cope with novel or complex challenges. While this hypothesis has received ample support from studies in birds and mammals, similar evidence is not available for small-brained animals like insects. Our objective is to compare the learning abilities of different bee species with their brain size investment. We conducted an experiment in which field-collected individuals had to associate an unconditioned stimulus (sucrose), with a conditioned stimulus (colored strip). We show that the probability of learning the reward-colour association was related to both absolute and relative brain size. This study shows that other bee species aside from the long studied honeybees and bumblebees , can be used in cognitive experiments and opens the door to explore the importance of relative brain sizes in cognitive tasks for insects and its consequences for species survival in a changing world.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain size predicts learning abilities in bees

Collado

Montaner

Molina

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…We modified the free-moving PER method presented by Muth et al [28] to allow for odor stimulation ( Fig. 2A).…”

Section: Fmper Is An Effective Methods For Measuring Odor Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Testing the efficacy of the CWB-method of odor representation required a reliable method of assessing odor learning and discrimination. We modified the free-moving PER method presented by Muth et al [28]to allow for odor stimulation ( Fig. 2A).…”

Section: Associative Testing Of Odor Discrimination With Fmpermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unlike PCA these dimensions exist independently of the odors they characterize, thus the odor space is constant regardless of how many odors are being analyzed. We tested the efficacy of this "Compounds Without Borders" (CWB) odor-characterization method with an associative odor learning and discrimination paradigm (free-moving proboscis extension reflex, FMPER [28]). Once the viability of the CWB-method was established, we applied it predictively -successfully hypothesizing bumblebee response to a novel set of odor-discrimination tasks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Compounds without borders: a novel paradigm for quantifying complex odors and responses to scent-pollution in bumblebees

Sprayberry

2019

Preprint

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Bumblebees are critical pollinators whose populations have been experiencing troubling declines over the past several decades. Successful foraging improves colony fitness, thus understanding how anthropogenic influences modulate foraging behavior may aid conservation efforts. Odor pollution can have negative impacts on bumble-and honey-bees foraging behavior. However, given the vast array of potential scent contaminants, individually testing pollutants is an ineffective approach. The ability to quantitatively measure how much scent-pollution of a floralodor bumblebees can tolerate would represent a paradigm shift in odor-pollution studies. Current statistical methods for analyzing complex odors have poor predictive power because statisticallyderived odor-spaces are rewritten when new odors are added. This study presents an alternative method of analyzing complex odor blends based on the encoding properties of insect olfactory systems. This "Compounds Without Borders" (CWB) method vectorizes odors in a multidimensional space representing relevant functional group and carbon characteristics of their component odorants. A single vector can be built for any scent, which allows the angular distance between any two odors to be calculated -including a learned odor and its polluted counterpart. Data presented here indicate that CWB-angles are capable of both describing and predicting bumblebee odor-discrimination behavior: odor pairs with angular distances in the 20-29° range are generalized, while odor pairs over 30 degrees are differentiated. The neurophysiological properties underlying CWB-vectorization of odors are not unique to bumblebees; CWB-angle analysis of published data on a hawkmoth supports the idea that this method may have broader applications.

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“…However, because most studies of associative learning are conducted in the laboratory, we often lack information about the ecological and evolutionary relevance of associative learning under field conditions (Pritchard et al, 2016;Morand-Ferron, 2017). Although laboratory tests of learning allow for greater experimental control, animals have access to different information and are under different selective pressures in the wild (Pritchard et al, 2016;Muth et al, 2018). As a result, estimates of learning performance in the laboratory may not translate to the field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are ants botanists? Ant associative learning of plant chemicals mediates foraging for carbohydrates

Nelson

Zapata

Sentner

et al. 2019

Ecological Entomology

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1. Although associative learning is widespread across animals, its ecological importance is difficult to assess because learning is rarely studied in the field, where informative cues are juxtaposed against complex backgrounds of uninformative noise. 2. Ants rely heavily on chemical cues for foraging and engage in many ecologically important interactions with plants. Nevertheless, little is known about the role of associative learning of plant chemicals in ant foraging for carbohydrates. 3. In a field setting, the present study investigated whether the distantly related ant species Formica podzolica (Formicinae subfamily) and Tapinoma sessile (Dolichoderinae subfamily) exhibited associative learning of the chemical cues from two co‐occurring plant species that are taxonomically and chemically distinct (Asteraceae: Helianthella quinquenervis and Apiaceae: Ligusticum porteri). 4. For two consecutive summers, ants were trained to forage from artificial sugar‐rich baits associated with the leaf chemicals from either H. quinquenervis or L. porteri for 24 h, after which a two‐choice test was deployed to assess whether ants would be more likely to select baits associated with the same (versus different) plant chemicals on which they had been trained. 5. The present study demonstrates associative learning of chemicals from both plant species, and these effects were consistent between ant species and years; training increased bait occupancy from 42% on the untrained scent to 66% on the trained scent. These results indicate that associative odour‐learning may be widespread across ants and serve as an important mechanism mediating ant selection of resources.

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A novel protocol for studying bee cognition in the wild

Cited by 51 publications

References 54 publications

Brain size predicts learning abilities in bees

Brain size predicts learning abilities in bees

Compounds without borders: a novel paradigm for quantifying complex odors and responses to scent-pollution in bumblebees

Are ants botanists? Ant associative learning of plant chemicals mediates foraging for carbohydrates

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