Male bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, perform equally well as workers in a serial colour-learning task.
Male bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, perform equally well as workers in a serial colour-learning task.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.10.009
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发表时间：
2016-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Chittka L
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wolf S;Chittka L
男性和女性的学习能力可能因性别特定的行为要求而有所不同。大黄蜂提供了一个有用的模型系统来探索不同的生活方式是如何反映在学习能力上的，因为它们的（雌性但不育的）工蜂和雄性工蜂的行为习惯根本不同。与工蜂一样，雄性大黄蜂也会积极地采花，但与工蜂不同的是，它们必须在觅食和寻找配偶之间进行权衡，这可能会影响它们在采花过程中有效学习和利用花朵线索的能力。我们对自由飞行的雄性和工蜂进行了一系列的颜色学习任务，比较它们在觅食场景中灵活学习视觉花卉线索和奖励的能力。雄性大黄蜂在学习速度和克服先前获得的联想的能力方面与工蜂没有什么不同，当这些联想不再预测奖励时。在所有的觅食任务中，我们发现在训练过程中，男女的选择准确性都有了显著的提高。在两性中，觅食性能的特征在很大程度上取决于两种喂食器类型的颜色差异。较大的颜色距离需要奖励喂食者快速可靠的学习，而高度相似的颜色的选择准确性提高得明显较慢。相反，当喂食器颜色相似时，从一种习得的喂食器切换到一种新喂食器的速度最快，而当喂食器颜色高度不同时，切换速度则较慢。总的来说，我们表明大黄蜂的行为性别二态性并不影响它们在交配环境之外的学习能力。我们讨论了形成雄性和工蜂觅食能力的可能驱动因素和限制因素及其对授粉生态学的影响。我们还建议无刺雄性大黄蜂作为研究传粉者认知的一个有利的替代模型系统。雄性大黄蜂在将颜色线索与蔗糖奖励联系起来方面效率很高。男性和工人（女性）对新奇奖励线索的学习能力相似。学习表现由喂食器的颜色决定，而不是由性别决定。性别特异性行为并不影响觅食认知能力。雄性大黄蜂是研究传粉者认知的有利模型系统。
The learning capacities of males and females may differ with sex-specific behavioural requirements. Bumblebees provide a useful model system to explore how different lifestyles are reflected in learning abilities, because their (female but sterile) workers and males engage in fundamentally different behaviour routines. Bumblebee males, like workers, embark on active flower foraging but in contrast to workers they have to trade off their feeding with mate search, potentially affecting their abilities to learn and utilize floral cues efficiently during foraging. We used a serial colour-learning task with freely flying males and workers to compare their ability to flexibly learn visual floral cues with reward in a foraging scenario that changed over time. Male bumblebees did not differ from workers in both their learning speed and their ability to overcome previously acquired associations, when these ceased to predict reward. In all foraging tasks we found a significant improvement in choice accuracy in both sexes over the course of the training. In both sexes, the characteristics of the foraging performance depended largely on the colour difference of the two presented feeder types. Large colour distances entailed fast and reliable learning of the rewarding feeders whereas choice accuracy on highly similar colours improved significantly more slowly. Conversely, switching from a learned feeder type to a novel one was fastest for similar feeder colours and slow for highly different ones. Overall, we show that behavioural sex dimorphism in bumblebees did not affect their learning abilities beyond the mating context. We discuss the possible drivers and limitations shaping the foraging abilities of males and workers and implications for pollination ecology. We also suggest stingless male bumblebees as an advantageous alternative model system for the study of pollinator cognition. Bumblebee males are highly efficient in associating colour cues with sucrose reward. Males and workers (females) are similar in learning ability of novel rewarding cues. Learning performance is determined by the feeder colours but not by sex. Sex-specific behavioural repertoire does not affect foraging cognitive abilities. Male bumblebees are an advantageous model system to study pollinator cognition.