Homing ability of the bumblebee bombus terrestris (hymenoptera: apidae)
Homing ability of the bumblebee bombus terrestris (hymenoptera: apidae)
The ability of bumblebees to locate their nest site following artificial displacement was investigated. Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae) workers were marked with numbered tags and displaced up to 15 km from their nest. Bees returned from distances of up to 9.8 km, with the proportion of bees returning declining with distance of the release site from the nest. Bees were slow to return to their nests, often taking several days when even the most distant sites were all within 1 h direct flight time. These findings concur with those of earlier studies on various Hymenoptera, and they are consistent with previous suggestions that the most probable homing mechanism is a systematic search until familiar landmarks are encountered. Our results also suggest that the natural foraging range of B. terrestris may span several km.
bombus terrestris, central place foraging, navigation, home range
105-111
Goulson, David
a27f8ec6-3ccd-4355-8cc4-e5e8c47af356
Stout, Jane.C.
92c22dca-f483-475b-afc3-e575dbca903a
January 2001
Goulson, David
a27f8ec6-3ccd-4355-8cc4-e5e8c47af356
Stout, Jane.C.
92c22dca-f483-475b-afc3-e575dbca903a
Goulson, David and Stout, Jane.C.
(2001)
Homing ability of the bumblebee bombus terrestris (hymenoptera: apidae).
Apidologie, 32 (1), .
Abstract
The ability of bumblebees to locate their nest site following artificial displacement was investigated. Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae) workers were marked with numbered tags and displaced up to 15 km from their nest. Bees returned from distances of up to 9.8 km, with the proportion of bees returning declining with distance of the release site from the nest. Bees were slow to return to their nests, often taking several days when even the most distant sites were all within 1 h direct flight time. These findings concur with those of earlier studies on various Hymenoptera, and they are consistent with previous suggestions that the most probable homing mechanism is a systematic search until familiar landmarks are encountered. Our results also suggest that the natural foraging range of B. terrestris may span several km.
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More information
Published date: January 2001
Keywords:
bombus terrestris, central place foraging, navigation, home range
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 57705
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/57705
ISSN: 0044-8435
PURE UUID: 349eb936-139b-4f76-8f59-b80312420439
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 11 Aug 2008
Last modified: 09 Jan 2022 07:24
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Contributors
Author:
David Goulson
Author:
Jane.C. Stout
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