Social learning drives handedness in nectar-robbing bumblebees
Social learning drives handedness in nectar-robbing bumblebees
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DOI：
10.1007/s00265-013-1539-0
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发表时间：
2013-07-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Vallejo-Marin, M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Goulson, D.;Park, K. J.;Vallejo-Marin, M.
人们发现大黄蜂在选择花的时候会观察和模仿其他蜜蜂的行为，尤其是在研究新的花类型的时候。它们还能学会在花上打洞来偷花蜜。在这里，我们研究了取食小犀牛花（Rhinanthus minor）的大黄蜂的手性，这种花可以从右手边或左手边取食。我们研究了分布在高山景观上的许多斑块；每个斑块都倾向于在右侧或左侧被抢夺。侧偏强度随着季节的变化而增加，在砍伐最严重的斑块中最强。我们认为，斑块内的蜜蜂通过直接观察或从洞的位置经验中相互学习抢劫策略（包括惯用手），从而导致快速的频率依赖选择共同策略。初级抢劫主要是由一种专门抢劫的物种，Bombus wurflenii，以及一种广泛的通才Bombus lucorum进行的。这两个物种在特定的花丛中采用了相同的手性，为野生昆虫跨越物种边界的社会学习提供了第一个证据。
Bumblebees have been found to observe and copy the behaviour of others with regard to floral choices, particularly when investigating novel flower types. They can also learn to make nectar-robbing holes in flowers as a result of encountering them. Here, we investigate handedness in nectar-robbing bumblebees feeding on Rhinanthus minor, a flower that can be robbed from either the right-hand side or the left-hand side. We studied numerous patches of R. minor spread across an alpine landscape; each patch tended to be robbed on either the right or the left. The intensity of side bias increased through the season and was strongest in the most heavily robbed patches. We suggest that bees within patches learn robbing strategies (including handedness) from one another, either by direct observation or from experience with the location of holes, leading to rapid frequency-dependent selection for a common strategy. Primary robbing was predominantly carried out not only by a specialist robbing species, Bombus wurflenii, but also by Bombus lucorum, a widespread generalist. Both species adopted the same handedness within particular flower patches, providing the first evidence for social learning crossing the species boundary in wild insects.