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

作　　者：Dongbo Zhou Shunping Dong Jin Ge Lars Chittka Cai Wang Chao Wen Junbao Wen 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources,Beijing Forestry University,No.35,Tsinghua East Road,Beijing,China [2]School of Grassland Science,Beijing Forestry University,Beijing,China [3]Biological and Experimental Psychology,School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences,Queen Mary University of London,London,UK [4]College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture,South China Agricultural University,Guangzhou,China [5]State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents,Institute of Zoology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,China

出　　处：《Insect Science》2025年第2期675-686,共12页昆虫科学(英文版)

基　　金：funded by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(grant no.BLX202273);National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant nos.32301292 and 32271888).

摘　　要：Previous studies have demonstrated that associative learning and experience play important roles in the string-pulling of bumblebees(Bombus terrestris).However,the features of the target(artificial flower with sugar reward)and the string that bees learn in such tasks remain unknown.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.

关 键 词：associative learning non-natural skills strategy visual search 

分 类 号：Q95[生物学—动物学]