Honey bees navigate according to a map-like spatial memory

Menzel, Randolf; Greggers, Uwe; Smith, A. D.; Berger, Sandra L.; Brandt, Robert; Brunke, Sascha; Bundrock, Gesine; Hülse, Sandra; Plümpe, Tobias; Schaupp, Frank; Schüttler, Elke; Stach, Silke; Stindt, Jan; Stollhoff, Nicola; Watzl, Sebastian

doi:10.1073/pnas.0408550102

Cited by 373 publications

(291 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In a similar way to honeybees (Menzel et al . 2005), although some individuals flew straight off, the majority of individuals performed orientation flights when released. These exploratory processes may explain the additional time it took bees to return home.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the impacts of field‐realistic exposure to a neonicotinoid pesticide on bumblebee foraging, homing ability and colony growth

Stanley

Russell

Morrison

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

153

116

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Summary The ability to forage and return home is essential to the success of bees as both foragers and pollinators. Pesticide exposure may cause behavioural changes that interfere with these processes, with consequences for colony persistence and delivery of pollination services.We investigated the impact of chronic exposure (5–43 days) to field‐realistic levels of a neonicotinoid insecticide (2·4 ppb thiamethoxam) on foraging ability, homing success and colony size using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in free‐flying bumblebee colonies.Individual foragers from pesticide‐exposed colonies carried out longer foraging bouts than untreated controls (68 vs. 55 min). Pesticide‐exposed bees also brought back pollen less frequently than controls indicating reduced foraging performance.A higher proportion of bees from pesticide‐exposed colonies returned when released 1 km from their nests; this is potentially related to increased orientation experience during longer foraging bouts. We measured no impact of pesticide exposure on homing ability for bees released from 2 km, or when data were analysed overall.Despite a trend for control colonies to produce more new workers earlier, we found no overall impacts of pesticide exposure on whole colony size. Synthesis and applications. This study shows that field‐realistic neonicotinoid exposure can have impacts on both foraging ability and homing success of bumblebees, with implications for the success of bumblebee colonies in agricultural landscapes and their ability to deliver crucial pollination services. Pesticide risk assessments should include bee species other than honeybees and assess a range of behaviours to elucidate the impact of sublethal effects. This has relevance for reviews of neonicotinoid risk assessment and usage policy world‐wide.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the impacts of field‐realistic exposure to a neonicotinoid pesticide on bumblebee foraging, homing ability and colony growth

Stanley

Russell

Morrison

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

153

116

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“…Similarly, the ability to gather information about the spatial environment plays a critical role for migration, dispersal and foraging [10,11]. Some animals appear to learn to take paths associated with landscape features [12] and may use complex spatial memory to navigate between the nesting and foraging sites [13]. Although much progress has been made in recent years (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pharmacological evidence is consistent with a prominent role of spatial memory in complex navigation

Roth

Krochmal

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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The ability to learn about the spatial environment plays an important role in navigation, migration, dispersal, and foraging. However, our understanding of both the role of cognition in the development of navigation strategies and the mechanisms underlying these strategies is limited. We tested the hypothesis that complex navigation is facilitated by spatial memory in a population of Chrysemys picta that navigate with extreme precision (+3.5 m) using specific routes that must be learned prior to age three. We used scopolamine, a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist, to manipulate the cognitive spatial abilities of free-living turtles during naturally occurring overland movements. Experienced adults treated with scopolamine diverted markedly from their precise navigation routes. Naive juveniles lacking experience (and memory) were not affected by scopolamine, and thereby served as controls for perceptual or non-spatial cognitive processes associated with navigation. Further, neither adult nor juvenile movement was affected by methylscopolamine, a form of scopolamine that does not cross the blood-brain barrier, a control for the peripheral effects of scopolamine. Together, these results are consistent with a role of spatial cognition in complex navigation and highlight a cellular mechanism that might underlie spatial cognition. Overall, our findings expand our understanding of the development of complex cognitive abilities of vertebrates and the neurological mechanisms of navigation.

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“…Arthropods appear able to perform a variety of complex tasks, ranging from spatial navigation (Menzel et al, 2005;Wehner, 2003) to object perception (van Hateren, Srinivasan, & Wait, 1990), learning (Hammer & Menzel, 1995), numerical competences (Cross & Jackson, 2017;Dacke & Srinivasan, 2008;Nelson & Jackson, 2012) and even more complex skills, such as self-recognition (Cammaerts & Cammaerts, 2015) and the cultural spreading of learned abilities (Alem et al, 2016). Among arthropods, a family of spiders has caught the interest of scientists: Salticidae.…”

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confidence: 99%