Work

Visual discrimination learning in the Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Karl von Frisch's ground‐breaking research first demonstrated visual learning in the European honey bee (Apis mellifera). The study of Australian native bees and their cognitive abilities, however, is still a relatively new and emerging field. Here we examined visual cognition in the Australian stingless bee, Tetragonula carbonaria. First we tested for any colour preferences in T. carbonaria. Then we set stingless bees with three simple visual discrimination learning tasks using distinct colours (blue or yellow), oriented gratings (horizontal or vertical) and patterns (radial or concentric). In the colour preference task, we found evidence of a weak colour preference, with bees preferring colours blue and purple. In the visual discrimination task, T. carbonaria learned all three tasks in just 10 training trials. Bees learned equally well across the colour, orientation and pattern conditions, suggesting rapid visual learning. Future research should focus on closing knowledge gaps in Australian native bee cognition research, building upon the results of this study and exploring more complex non‐elemental learning.

Source: Austral Entomology

DOI: 10.1111/aen.12725

Authors: Faelan Mourmourakis, Andrew B. Barron

Institution: Macquarie University

Language: English

Topic: Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Macquarie University, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Australian Research Council

Awards: Life or death decisions: making fast, accurate choices in a complex world, The Major Transitions in the Evolution of Cognition, Action selection in insects: how a microbrain knows what to do