Presentation Details
| Quantifying social transmission through honeybee communication networks Matthew Hasenjager1, 2, 3, 4, William Hoppitt4, Iona Cunningham-Eurich4, 5, 6, Victoria Franks4, 7, Ellouise Leadbeater4. 1Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program, Knoxville, TN, USA.2University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.3National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Knoxville, TN, USA.4Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, England, United Kingdom.5Natural History Museum, London, England, United Kingdom.6University College London, London, England, United Kingdom.7University of Chester, Chester, England, United Kingdom |
Abstract
Honeybee colonies are microcosms of information-sharing in which information spreads via multiple forms of interaction. During foraging, honeybees share navigational information via waggle dances and acquire food-related olfactory information through nectar-sharing and antennation. However, disentangling the contributions of these transmission pathways is challenging, as bees are often exposed to them simultaneously in the hive. We combined social network analyses with experimental manipulations to evaluate how these communication systems combine to guide bees to food across different foraging contexts. We found that patterns of dance-following accounted for nearly all instances of recruitment to novel foraging locations, but that decisions to return to familiar sites were best explained by a combination of network types. Bees were especially likely to return to familiar sites after following dances advertising that site, suggesting that the dance’s spatial information remained important in this context. By elucidating the role of these transmission pathways in guiding foraging decisions, we show how they confer important robustness and flexibility to honeybee collective foraging.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.