Chapman, K.E. orcid.org/0000-0002-6584-6248, Smith, M.T., Gaston, K.J. orcid.org/0000-0002-7235-7928 et al. (1 more author) (2024) Bumblebee nest departures under low light conditions at sunrise and sunset. Biology Letters, 20 (4). 20230518. ISSN 1744-957X
Abstract
Only a few diurnal animals, such as bumblebees, extend their activity into the time around sunrise and sunset when illumination levels are low. Low light impairs viewing conditions and increases sensory costs, but whether diurnal insects use low light as a cue to make behavioural decisions is uncertain. To investigate how they decide to initiate foraging at these times of day, we observed bumblebee nest-departure behaviours inside a flight net, under naturally changing light conditions. In brighter light bees did not attempt to return to the nest and departed with minimal delay, as expected. In low light the probability of non-departures increased, as a small number of bees attempted to return after spending time on the departure platform. Additionally, in lower illumination bees spent more time on the platform before flying away, up to 68 s. Our results suggest that bees may assess light conditions once outside the colony to inform the decision to depart. These findings give novel insights into how behavioural decisions are made at the start and the end of a foraging day in diurnal animals when the limits of their vision impose additional costs on foraging efficiency.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | insects; foraging; diurnal; vision; decision-making; behaviour |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 15 Apr 2024 13:48 |
Last Modified: | 22 Apr 2024 11:03 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | The Royal Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0518 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:211496 |