Effects of a reward downshift on the consummatory behavior and flower choices of bumblebee foragers

Insect foragers often exhibit flower constancy, the tendency to visit single flower types rather than sample alternative flowers that provide equal or higher levels of reward. We employed a negative incentive contrast procedure to examine whether a decrease of sucrose concentration in a regularly visited flower type affects bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) consummatory or choice behavior. Subjects were trained to enter a test arena where they foraged on a single, red, artificial flower that contained 140 microl of sucrose solution. Subjects were reinforced with a concentration of either 0.50 or 0.20 sucrose solution in 20 trials and in 12 subsequent test trials subjects were given a choice between a red and yellow flower that each contained 140 microl of 0.20 sucrose solution. Subjects that experienced a downshift of reward showed an abrupt disruption in consumption of sucrose solution from the red flower. These subjects were also significantly more likely to visit the novel yellow flower than subjects that were reinforced with 0.20 sucrose solution in red flowers in all trials. However, the effects of the downshift of reward were transient and appeared to disrupt consummatory behavior more strongly than flower preferences. These results support the idea that bumblebee foragers form expectations of reward in flowers--as is implied by the results of studies of honeybees--and suggest that unrealized expectations of reward may cause foragers to sample alternative flowers or to fly considerable distances in search of particular types of flowers.