An automated system for tracking and identifying individual nectar foragers at multiple feeders
An automated system for tracking and identifying individual nectar foragers at multiple feeders
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DOI：
10.1007/s00265-010-0907-2
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发表时间：
2010-04-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Thomson, James D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ohashi, Kazuharu;D'Souza, Daniel;Thomson, James D.
采蜜动物已成为许多实验研究和理论模型的研究对象。它们愿意访问人工喂食器，这使得许多物种可以接受使用自动补充花蜜的机械“花”的控制实验。然而，这种喂食器的结构复杂性和缺乏跟踪多个个体运动的设备限制了我们提出一些与自然觅食环境有关的具体问题的能力，特别是在竞争情况下。为了克服这些困难，我们开发了一个实验系统，使用射频识别（RFID）标签来识别单个动物，该系统可以生成计算机记录，记录多个采集者从简单的人造花中收获的花蜜分泌速度。通过使用红外探测器（发光二极管和光电晶体管）在需要时瞬间激活RFID读取器，我们的系统可以防止RFID芯片加热并干扰焦点动物的觅食行为。为了证明这些优势，我们用一群圈养的大黄蜂（Bombus impatiens）进行了初步实验。在实验中，两只蜜蜂被贴上RFID芯片（2.5 x 2.5 mm，由日本东京日立-迈赛尔有限公司制造）的标签，并被允许在放置在一个大飞行笼中的16朵人造花上觅食。利用得到的数据集，我们详细介绍了蜜蜂是如何随着经验的积累而增加花丛之间的飞行速度，同时减少每朵花的平均花蜜产量的。该系统为追踪觅食个体在大空间尺度上的运动模式、奖励历史和长期觅食行为提供了强有力的工具。
Nectar-feeding animals have served as the subjects of many experimental studies and theoretical models of foraging. Their willingness to visit artificial feeders renders many species amenable to controlled experiments using mechanical "flowers" that replenish nectar automatically. However, the structural complexity of such feeders and the lack of a device for tracking the movements of multiple individuals have limited our ability to ask some specific questions related to natural foraging contexts, especially in competitive situations. To overcome such difficulties, we developed an experimental system for producing computer records of multiple foragers harvesting from simple artificial flowers with known rates of nectar secretion, using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to identify individual animals. By using infrared detectors (light-emitting diodes and phototransistors) to activate the RFID readers momentarily when needed, our system prevents the RFID chips from heating up and disturbing the foraging behavior of focal animals. To demonstrate these advantages, we performed a preliminary experiment with a captive colony of bumble bees, Bombus impatiens. In the experiment, two bees were tagged with RFID chips (2.5 x 2.5 mm, manufactured by Hitachi-Maxell, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) and allowed to forage on 16 artificial flowers arranged in a big flight cage. Using the resulting data set, we present details of how the bees increased their travel speed between flowers, while decreasing the average nectar crop per flower, as they gained experience. Our system provides a powerful tool to track the movement patterns, reward history, and long-term foraging performance of individual foragers at large spatial scales.