The use of heterospecific scent marks by the sweat bee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Halictus aerarius</Emphasis> |
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Authors: | Tomoyuki Yokoi Dave Goulson Kenji Fujisaki |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo, 606-8502 Kyoto, Japan;(2) School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK |
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Abstract: | To forage effectively amongst flowers, some bee species utilize olfactory cues left by previous visitors in addition to direct
assessment of visual cues to identify rewarding flowers. This ability can be more advantageous if the bees can recognize and
use scent marks left by heterospecifics, not just marks left by members of their own species. We conducted field experiments
to investigate whether the sweat bee Halictus aerarius avoids visiting flowers of trailing water willow Justicia procumbens emptied by other bee species. We found that H. aerarius rejected the flowers visited by both heterospecifics and conspecifics. They also rejected visited flowers artificially replenished
with nectar. Our results demonstrate that social bees outside the Apidae can detect marks left on flowers by heterospecifics
but that (on this plant species) they are unable to discriminate against flowers by directly detecting nectar volume. H. aerarius exhibited different rejection rates according to the identity of the previous bee species. We suggest that the frequency
of rejection responses may depend on the amount of chemical substances left by the previous bee. In general, the use of scent
marks left by previous visitors is almost certainly advantageous, enabling foragers to avoid flowers with depleted nectar
levels and thereby improving their foraging efficiency. |
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Keywords: | Sweat bee Scent marks Heterospecifics Foraging Floral resources |
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