Better explicating the strengths and shortcomings of these models will help refine projections and improve transparency in the years ahead.
Image credit: Witsawat.S.
Contributed by Charles R. Gallistel, May 1, 2014 (sent for review January 22, 2014)
Article Figures & SI
Figures
- Fig. 1.
The average-vector hypothesis. Bee is captured at the feeder F bound for the hive H on vector FH and released at a release site R. It flies the vector FH from R, discovers its error at D, recognizes the landmarks L1 and L2, and flies the average of the associated home vectors, which is the vector (L1H + L2H)/2.
- Fig. 2.
Layout of the experimental site. A large flat open field bordered by a row of bushes, a road and a river. Perpendicular to the bushes ran two irrigation channels. Representative bee flights shown. (A) In Exp. 1 bees were trained from hive H1 to the feeder F1 along the yellow dotted line. (B) In Exp. 2 bees were trained from hive H2 to feeder F2 along the white dotted line. The release site in Exp. 1 was R1. In Exp. 2 two release sites were used, R2 and R3. The radar (black triangle at the origin) was positioned ∼60 m from the row of bushes stretching along a small road and a river. H1 is located at the upper part of the western irrigation channel. H2 is located on the edge of the bushes to the south. The blue lines in the figures show representative flight paths from control bees, the red lines from clock-shifted bees.
- Fig. 3.
Initial vector flight components (vector flights) of bees in Exps. 1 and 2. Clock-shifted bees shown in red and control bees shown in blue. (A) Exp. 1: clock-shifted mean vector angle 24°, (95% CI 7°,41°); control mean vector angle 322°, (95% CI 319°, 325°). (B) Exp. 2: clock-shifted mean angle 276°, (95% CI 244°, 308°); control mean vector angle 271°, (95% CI 240°, 301°). Scale in meters.
- Fig. 4.
Kernel density (kde) plots overlaid on a Google map showing the homing behavior of animals from the point of release in Exps. 1 and 2. (A) Exp. 1 control bees (n = 13); (B) Exp. 1 clock-shifted bees (n = 24); (C) Exp. 2 control bees (n = 8); (D) Exp. 2 clock-shifted bees (n = 12). The color maps indicate the probability of a bee being at a particular coordinate with blue indicating low and red indicating higher probability of occurrence. The white dashed lines indicate the expected sun-compass orientation angle under each experimental condition. Scale in meters from the radar.
Tables
Experiment Group No. of animals returning home/total Mean time ± SEM (s) Mean distance ± SEM (m)* Experiment 1 Clock shifted 19/24 154 ± 30 1,687 ± 287 Control 11/13 140 ± 24 1,452 ± 108 Experiment 2 Clock shifted 10/12 173 ± 64 948 ± 172 Control 7/8 95 ± 31 772 ± 119 ↵* A significant difference between the total distance traveled in Exps. 1 and 2, P = 0.0007.
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The bee reads its map
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