NDLI: Conspecific and Heterospecific Information Use in Bumblebees

Content Provider	PubMed Central
Author	Dawson, Erika H. Lars, Chittka
Editor	Ferrari, Pier Francesco
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	Heterospecific social learning has been understudied in comparison to interactions between members of the same species. However, the learning mechanisms behind such information use can allow animals to be flexible in the cues that are used. This raises the question of whether conspecific cues are inherently more influential than cues provided by heterospecifics, or whether animals can simply use any cue that predicts fitness enhancing conditions, including those provided by heterospecifics. To determine how freely social information travels across species boundaries, we trained bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) to learn to use cues provided by conspecifics and heterospecific honey bees (Apis mellifera) to locate valuable floral resources. We found that heterospecific demonstrators did not differ from conspecifics in the extent to which they guided observers' choices, whereas various types of inorganic visual cues were consistently less effective than conspecifics. This was also true in a transfer test where bees were confronted with a novel flower type. However, in the transfer test, conspecifics were slightly more effective than heterospecific demonstrators. We then repeated the experiment with entirely naïve bees that had never foraged alongside conspecifics before. In this case, heterospecific demonstrators were equally efficient as conspecifics both in the initial learning task and the transfer test. Our findings demonstrate that social learning is not a unique process limited to conspecifics and that through associative learning, interspecifically sourced information can be just as valuable as that provided by conspecific individuals. Furthermore the results of this study highlight potential implications for understanding competition within natural pollinator communities.
Related Links	http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031444
Starting Page	31444
File Format	PDF
ISSN	19326203
e-ISSN	19326203
Journal	PLoS ONE
Issue Number	2
Volume Number	7
Language	English
Publisher	Public Library of Science
Publisher Date	2012-02-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights Holder	Public Library of Science
Subject Keyword	Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all) Medicine(all) Research in Higher Education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Multidisciplinary

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Settling Decisions and Heterospecific Social Information Use in Shrikes

Conspecific and Heterospecific Plant Densities at Small-Scale Can Drive Plant-Pollinator Interactions

Correction: Settling Decisions and Heterospecific Social Information Use in Shrikes

Conspecific versus heterospecific gene exchange between populations of Darwin's finches

Neural Correlates of Threat Perception: Neural Equivalence of Conspecific and Heterospecific Mobbing Calls Is Learned

ZENK Activation in the Nidopallium of Black-Capped Chickadees in Response to Both Conspecific and Heterospecific Calls

Variability of Female Responses to Conspecific vs. Heterospecific Male Mating Calls in Polygynous Deer: An Open Door to Hybridization?

Degree of male ornamentation affects female preference for conspecific versus heterospecific males.

Space Use of Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) Revealed by Radio-Tracking

Conspecific and Heterospecific Information Use in Bumblebees

Similar Documents

Settling Decisions and Heterospecific Social Information Use in Shrikes

Conspecific and Heterospecific Plant Densities at Small-Scale Can Drive Plant-Pollinator Interactions

Correction: Settling Decisions and Heterospecific Social Information Use in Shrikes

Conspecific versus heterospecific gene exchange between populations of Darwin's finches

Neural Correlates of Threat Perception: Neural Equivalence of Conspecific and Heterospecific Mobbing Calls Is Learned

ZENK Activation in the Nidopallium of Black-Capped Chickadees in Response to Both Conspecific and Heterospecific Calls

Variability of Female Responses to Conspecific vs. Heterospecific Male Mating Calls in Polygynous Deer: An Open Door to Hybridization?

Degree of male ornamentation affects female preference for conspecific versus heterospecific males.

Space Use of Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) Revealed by Radio-Tracking

Conspecific and Heterospecific Information Use in Bumblebees