Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apidae) display reduced pollen foraging behavior when marked with bee tags vs. paint

Numbered bee tags, developed for marking honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus), are glued to the mesosoma of many bees to uniquely identify them. We recorded whether or not bees sonicated to collect pollen after being marked, and we compared the sonication frequency, sonication length, and wing beat frequency of Bombus (Pyrobombus) impatiens Cresson that were tagged with bee tags vs. marked with paint. We found that bees with tags glued to their mesosoma had no significant change in wing beat frequency, sonication frequency, or sonication length, relative to bees that were marked with paint; however, we found that the probability of collecting pollen via sonication after being marked was much lower for bees marked with bee tags vs. paint.

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Changes in the wing-beat frequency of bees and wasps depending on environmental conditions: a study with optical sensors

Apidologie ◽

10.1007/s13592-021-00860-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Antonio R. S. Parmezan ◽

Vinicius M. A. Souza ◽

Indrė Žliobaitė ◽

Gustavo E. A. P. A. Batista

Keyword(s):

Optical Sensors ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Beat Frequency ◽

Wing Beat ◽

Wing Beat Frequency

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Evolution of the wave: aerodynamic and aposematic functions of butterfly wing motion

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2006.0261 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 274 (1612) ◽

pp. 913-917 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Robert B Srygley

Keyword(s):

Beat Frequency ◽

Warning Signal ◽

Colour Pattern ◽

Butterfly Species ◽

Wing Beat ◽

Butterfly Wing ◽

Motion Cues ◽

Wing Beat Frequency ◽

Wing Motion ◽

Heliconius Cydno

Many unpalatable butterfly species use coloration to signal their distastefulness to birds, but motion cues may also be crucial to ward off predatory attacks. In previous research, captive passion-vine butterflies Heliconius mimetic in colour pattern were also mimetic in motion. Here, I investigate whether wing motion changes with the flight demands of different behaviours. If birds select for wing motion as a warning signal, aposematic butterflies should maintain wing motion independently of behavioural context. Members of one mimicry group ( Heliconius cydno and Heliconius sapho ) beat their wings more slowly and their wing strokes were more asymmetric than their sister-species ( Heliconius melpomene and Heliconius erato , respectively), which were members of another mimicry group having a quick and steady wing motion. Within mimicry groups, wing beat frequency declined as its role in generating lift also declined in different behavioural contexts. In contrast, asymmetry of the stroke was not associated with wing beat frequency or behavioural context—strong indication that birds process and store the Fourier motion energy of butterfly wings. Although direct evidence that birds respond to subtle differences in butterfly wing motion is lacking, birds appear to generalize a motion pattern as much as they encounter members of a mimicry group in different behavioural contexts.

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