Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees

Flower-naive honeybees Apis mellifera L. flying in an enclosure were tested for their colour preferences. Bees were rewarded once on an achromatic (grey, aluminium or hardboard), or on a chromatic (ultraviolet) disk. Since naive bees never alighted on colour stimuli alone, a scent was given in combi...

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Autores principales: Giurfa, M., Núñez, J., Chittka, L., Menzel, R.
Formato: JOUR
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Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03407594_v177_n3_p247_Giurfa
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spelling todo:paper_03407594_v177_n3_p247_Giurfa2023-10-03T15:25:52Z Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees Giurfa, M. Núñez, J. Chittka, L. Menzel, R. Apis mellifera Colour preferences Colour vision Flower colours Honeybees Apis mellifera Flower-naive honeybees Apis mellifera L. flying in an enclosure were tested for their colour preferences. Bees were rewarded once on an achromatic (grey, aluminium or hardboard), or on a chromatic (ultraviolet) disk. Since naive bees never alighted on colour stimuli alone, a scent was given in combination with colour. Their landings on twelve colour stimuli were recorded. Results after one reward ("first test") were analysed separately from those obtained after few rewards ("late tests"). 1) After pre-training to achromatic signals, bees preferred, in the first test, bee-uv-blue and bee-green colours. With increasing experience, the original preference pattern persisted but the choice of bee-blue and bee-green colours increased. 2) Neither colour distance of the test stimuli to the background or to the pre-training signal, nor their intensity, nor their green contrast, accounted for the colour choice of bees. Choices reflected innate preferences and were only associated with stimulus hue. 3) Bees learned very quickly the pre-trained chromatic stimulus, the original colour preferences being thus erased. 4) Colour preferences were strongly correlated with flower colour and its associated nectar reward, as measured in 154 flower species. 5) Colour preferences also resemble the wavelength dependence of colour learning demonstrated in experienced bees. © 1995 Springer-Verlag. Fil:Giurfa, M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Núñez, J. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. JOUR info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03407594_v177_n3_p247_Giurfa
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Apis mellifera
Colour preferences
Colour vision
Flower colours
Honeybees
Apis mellifera
spellingShingle Apis mellifera
Colour preferences
Colour vision
Flower colours
Honeybees
Apis mellifera
Giurfa, M.
Núñez, J.
Chittka, L.
Menzel, R.
Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees
topic_facet Apis mellifera
Colour preferences
Colour vision
Flower colours
Honeybees
Apis mellifera
description Flower-naive honeybees Apis mellifera L. flying in an enclosure were tested for their colour preferences. Bees were rewarded once on an achromatic (grey, aluminium or hardboard), or on a chromatic (ultraviolet) disk. Since naive bees never alighted on colour stimuli alone, a scent was given in combination with colour. Their landings on twelve colour stimuli were recorded. Results after one reward ("first test") were analysed separately from those obtained after few rewards ("late tests"). 1) After pre-training to achromatic signals, bees preferred, in the first test, bee-uv-blue and bee-green colours. With increasing experience, the original preference pattern persisted but the choice of bee-blue and bee-green colours increased. 2) Neither colour distance of the test stimuli to the background or to the pre-training signal, nor their intensity, nor their green contrast, accounted for the colour choice of bees. Choices reflected innate preferences and were only associated with stimulus hue. 3) Bees learned very quickly the pre-trained chromatic stimulus, the original colour preferences being thus erased. 4) Colour preferences were strongly correlated with flower colour and its associated nectar reward, as measured in 154 flower species. 5) Colour preferences also resemble the wavelength dependence of colour learning demonstrated in experienced bees. © 1995 Springer-Verlag.
format JOUR
author Giurfa, M.
Núñez, J.
Chittka, L.
Menzel, R.
author_facet Giurfa, M.
Núñez, J.
Chittka, L.
Menzel, R.
author_sort Giurfa, M.
title Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees
title_short Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees
title_full Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees
title_fullStr Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees
title_full_unstemmed Colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees
title_sort colour preferences of flower-naive honeybees
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03407594_v177_n3_p247_Giurfa
work_keys_str_mv AT giurfam colourpreferencesofflowernaivehoneybees
AT nunezj colourpreferencesofflowernaivehoneybees
AT chittkal colourpreferencesofflowernaivehoneybees
AT menzelr colourpreferencesofflowernaivehoneybees
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