SR3: Srinivasan et al 2000-honeybee navigation

Question 1

what are the 2 theories for how honeybees estimate distance to food?

Answer 1

1. distance flown is estimated by energy consumption

2. cue is visual and depends on the extent the image of the world has changed during the trip

Question 2

how did the study test the hypotheses?

Answer 2

observed bee dances flown through short narrow tunnel for a food reward

Question 3

what was found to be visually driven?

Answer 3

the honeybees odometer

Question 4

what was the top of the tunnel covered with?

Answer 4

insect netting

Question 5

what were the patterning options in the tunnel?

Answer 5

experiment 1, 2, 4- random pattern

experiment 3- 1X1cm parallel stripes

Question 6

why were foragers in experiment 2 and 4 less likely to make round dances?

Answer 6

the random patterns in the tunnel make them think they’ve flown further

Question 7

what % showed round dances in experiments 1 and 3 and why?

Answer 7

87% not much motion passed the eye (1- feeder was before the tunnel, 3 had parallel lines in tunnel)

Question 8

for each experiment how many bees were individually marked?

Answer 8

6

Question 9

what was experiment 1 set up? (4)

Answer 9

• tunnel with entrance 35m from hive
• random visual texture in tunnel
• feeder at entrance of tunnel
• mainly round dances

Question 10

what did the fact that experiment 1 showed mainly round dances support?

Answer 10

the fact this dance is engaged in when food is <50m

Question 11

what was experiment 2 set up? (3)

Answer 11

• feeder 6m into tunnel
• random visual texture
• higher waggle dance probability

Question 12

what may the flight in random patterned tunnels have generated on the eye?

Answer 12

optic flow mimicking the effect of outdoor long flight

Question 13

what was experiment 3 set up? (4)

Answer 13

• tunnel and feeder positioned as experiment 2
• parallel stripes in direction of flight
• little image motion cues
• mainly round dances

Question 14

what was experiment 4 set up?

Answer 14

random texture but feeder was closer to the hive

- mainly waggle dances

Question 15

what is considered the primary cue?

Answer 15

the extent of image motion experienced in the eye

Question 16

what was the follow on experiment?

Answer 16

recorded dances of bees returning to the hives with feeders at different distances from the hive
- mainly waggle dances

Question 17

what were the feeder distances in the follow up experiment?

Answer 17

60m, 110, 150, 190, 225, 340, 350

Question 18

what does waggle duration increase almost linearly with?

Answer 18

distance flown

Question 19

what did the direction of the waggle axi shift in line with?

Answer 19

sun movement in the sky

Question 20

what was flight with the feeder 6m in the tunnel equivalent to in an outdoor environment?

Answer 20

186m

Question 21

how many degrees of image motion would 6m of forward motion generate?

Answer 21

6180

Question 22

how many degrees of image motion does 1m/s of waggle dance encode?

Answer 22

17.7

Question 23

why is the visual odometry reliable?

Answer 23

new recruits tend to take the same route as experienced foragers

Question 24

what does total angular motion depend and not depend on?

Answer 24

how far the bee flies rather than its speed

Question 25

what can we infer cues based on image motion play an important role in?

Answer 25

outdoor flights of several hundred meters

Question 26

what is the problem with pattern recognition?

Answer 26

• hard to recognise similarities between patterns of stimulation that are different but from the same object
• and of discriminating between similar patterns from different objects

Question 27

typically how many bees were individually marked and used in each experiment?

Answer 27

6

Question 28

what did waggle duration increase almost linearly with?

Answer 28

distance flown

Question 29

what did the study make clear in terms of how distance flown is perceived?

Answer 29

not in distance units but by image motion experienced by the eye

Question 30

what is the total angular motion of the image a measure of?

Answer 30

distance travelled along a particular route