Influence of preexisting preference for color on sampling and tracking behavior in bumble bees

Maharaj, Gyanpriya; Horack, Patricia; Yoder, M. V.; Dunlap, Aimee S.

doi:10.1093/beheco/ary140

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Intraspecific variation of bumble bee foraging preferences has been demonstrated under laboratory conditions (Ings et al 2009, Maharaj et al 2019); our study reveals the in situ variation of preference for multiple bumble bee species through elevational and temporal gradients of floristic turnover. At least three mechanisms could underlie the variation of preferences we observed.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Floral preferences of mountain bumble bees are constrained by functional traits but flexible through elevation and season

Sponsler

Kallnik

Réquier

et al. 2021

Oikos

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Patterns of resource use by animals can clarify how ecological communities have assembled in the past, how they currently function and how they are likely to respond to future perturbations. Bumble bees (Hymentoptera: Bombus spp.) and their floral hosts provide a diverse yet tractable system in which to explore resource selection in the context of plant-pollinator networks. Under conditions of resource limitation, the ability of bumble bees species to coexist should depend on dietary niche overlap. In this study, we report patterns and dynamics of floral morphotype preferences in a mountain bumble bee community based on ~13 000 observations of bumble bee floral visits recorded along a 1400 m elevation gradient. We found that bumble bees are highly selective generalists, rarely visiting floral morphotypes at the rates predicted by their relative abundances. Preferences also differed markedly across bumble bee species, and these differences were well-explained by variation in bumble bee tongue length, generating patterns of preference similarity that should be expected to predict competition under conditions of resource limitation. Within species, though, morphotype preferences varied by elevation and season, possibly representing adaptive flexibility in response to the high elevational and seasonal turnover of mountain floral communities. Patterns of resource partitioning among bumble bee communities may determine which species can coexist under the altered distributions of bumble bees and their floral hosts caused by climate and land use change.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Floral preferences of mountain bumble bees are constrained by functional traits but flexible through elevation and season

Sponsler

Kallnik

Réquier

et al. 2021

Oikos

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“…Color preferences may impact learning, and the extent of this impact may depend on the type of learning as well as on the developmental and evolutionary history of the animals. Animals are often better able to perceive colors that contrast with their environments 1–3 , and such sensory abilities and consequent preferences depend on both evolutionary history 4 and individual experience 5 . The impact of color preferences on learning may also depend on the specific type of learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Color preferences affect learning in zebrafish, Danio rerio

Roy

Suriyampola

Flores

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Animals may exhibit preference for colors that match their environment or the resources in the environment. These preferences may impact ability to learn associations with these colors and revert the associations when the reward contingency is modified. We used zebrafish Danio rerio from four populations to test if color preferences impact associative and reversal learning ability. First, we tested if preference for blue or green impact associative ability. We subjected individual fish through eight trials to associate a social stimulus with blue or green. Next, we tested if preference for red or green impact associative reversal learning ability. We trained fish in groups of three to associate a social stimulus with red or green over three trials, and reversed the reward contingency during the following session. Results showed that zebrafish preferred green over blue and domesticated fish chose green more than blue when there was a reward attached. Zebrafish also preferred red over green. Fish from one wild population learned with both colors and reversed learning only from green to red and not vice-versa. Fish from another population showed an overwhelming preference for red irrespective of what was rewarded. Domesticated fish did not show reversal learning ability.

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“…Even invertebrates have already been successfully challenged with visual reversal tasks (e.g., Liedtke and Schneider 2014; Bublitz et al. 2017; Maharaj et al. 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

Sex differences in color discrimination and serial reversal learning in mollies and guppies

Fuss

Witte

2019

Current Zoology

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Behavioral flexibility provides an individual with the ability to adapt its behavior in response to environmental changes. Studies on mammals, birds, and teleosts indicate greater behavioral flexibility in females. Conversely, males appear to exhibit greater behavioral persistence. We, therefore, investigated sex differences in behavioral flexibility in 2 closely related molly species ( Poecilia latipinna , P. mexicana ) and their more distant relative, the guppy P. reticulata by comparing male and female individuals in a serial, visual reversal learning task. Fish were first trained in color discrimination, which was quickly learned by all females (guppies and mollies) and all molly males alike. Despite continued training over more than 72 sessions, male guppies did not learn the general test procedure and were, therefore, excluded from further testing. Once the reward contingency was reversed serially, molly males of both species performed considerably better by inhibiting their previous response and reached the learning criterion significantly faster than their respective conspecific females. Moreover, Atlantic molly males clearly outperformed all other individuals (males and females) and some of them even reached the level of 1-trial learning. Thus, the apparently universal pattern of higher female behavioral flexibility seems to be inverted in the 2 examined molly species, although the evolutionary account of this pattern remains highly speculative. These findings were complemented by the observed lower neophobia of female sailfin mollies compared with their male conspecifics. This sex difference was not observed in Atlantic mollies that were observed to be significantly less distressed in a novel situation than their consexuals. Hypothetically, sex differences in behavioral flexibility can possibly be explained in terms of the different roles that males and females play in mating competition, mate choice, and reproduction or, more generally, in complex social interactions. Each of these characteristics clearly differed between the closely related mollies and the more distantly related guppies.

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Influence of preexisting preference for color on sampling and tracking behavior in bumble bees

Cited by 10 publications

References 46 publications

Floral preferences of mountain bumble bees are constrained by functional traits but flexible through elevation and season

Floral preferences of mountain bumble bees are constrained by functional traits but flexible through elevation and season

Color preferences affect learning in zebrafish, Danio rerio

Sex differences in color discrimination and serial reversal learning in mollies and guppies

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