Bumblebees attend to both the properties of the string and the target in string ‐pulling tasks, but prioritize the features of the string

This study aimed to explore the specific aspects of the string-flower arrangement that bumblebees learn and how they prioritize these features. We show that bumblebees trained with string-pulling are sensitive to the flower stimuli; they exhibit a preference for pulling strings connected to flowers over strings that are not attached to a target. Additionally, they chose to pull strings attached to flowers of the same color and shape as experienced during training. The string feature also plays a crucial role for bumblebees when the flower features are identical. Furthermore, bees prioritized the features of the strings rather than the flowers when both cues were in conflict. Our results show that bumblebees solve string-pulling tasks by acquiring knowledge about the characteristics of both targets and strings, and contribute to a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes employed by bees when tackling non-natural skills.
Source: Insect Science - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research