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Related Experiment Videos

Olfactory eavesdropping by a competitively foraging stingless bee, Trigona spinipes.

James C Nieh1, Lillian S Barreto, Felipe A L Contrera

  • 1University of California San Diego, Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, Mail Code 0116, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. jnieh@ucsd.edu

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|August 13, 2004
PubMed
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Aggressive stingless bees (Trigona spinipes) eavesdrop on competitor odors to find food. They prefer competitor scent marks at new sites, enabling rapid resource takeover and displacing rivals.

Area of Science:

  • Animal behavior
  • Chemical ecology
  • Evolutionary biology

Background:

  • Long-distance signals are vulnerable to eavesdropping, influencing communication evolution.
  • Stingless bees may use olfactory eavesdropping to locate food sources exploited by competitors.
  • Previous research questioned if stingless bees are attracted to interspecific competitor odor marks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if Trigona spinipes foragers detect and use odor marks from Melipona rufiventris.
  • To understand the role of olfactory eavesdropping in resource competition between stingless bee species.

Main Methods:

  • Observational studies on foraging behavior of Trigona spinipes and Melipona rufiventris.
  • Experimental manipulation of odor marks at food sources to assess bee orientation and preference.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analysis of bee responses to conspecific and interspecific odor marks in different contexts.

    • Main Results:

    • Trigona spinipes foragers detect and orient towards Melipona rufiventris odor marks.
    • T. spinipes rapidly takes over food sources marked by M. rufiventris, displacing competitors.
    • T. spinipes prefers M. rufiventris odor marks over conspecific marks at new food sites.
    • Melipona rufiventris foragers avoid T. spinipes odor marks.

    Conclusions:

    • Olfactory eavesdropping by Trigona spinipes on Melipona rufiventris facilitates resource acquisition.
    • This eavesdropping behavior may drive the evolution of cryptic communication in stingless bees.
    • Potential implications for the evolution of shortened odor trails and functionally referential communication.