An automated system for tracking and identifying individual nectar foragers at multiple feeders |
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Authors: | Kazuharu Ohashi Daniel D’Souza James D Thomson |
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Institution: | (1) Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan;(2) 6214 Fort Road, Mississauga, ON, Canada, L5V 1X2;(3) Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3G5 |
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Abstract: | 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 × 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. |
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