Guidance by odors in honeybee navigation.

Area of Science:

• Animal behavior
• Sensory ecology
• Insect navigation

Background:

• Animal navigation integrates diverse sensory inputs.
• Honeybees (Apis mellifera) use various cues for foraging flights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if and how olfactory stimuli from novel locations influence honeybee flight paths.
• To understand the role of learned odors in honeybee wayfinding.

Main Methods:

• Tracking individual honeybee flight trajectories using harmonic radar.
• Analyzing flight path deviations in response to learned odorants and trained route cues.

Main Results:

• Trained route cues (direction, distance, visual landmarks) were dominant in honeybee navigation.
• A learned odor, carried by airflow, induced wind-guided excursions off the trained route.
• Deviations were typically small (<60°, <200 m) and occurred when the trained odor was absent at the destination.

Conclusions:

• Olfactory cues can redirect honeybee flights, particularly in the absence of expected sensory information.
• This suggests a role for odor-guided navigation in honeybees, potentially over longer distances.
• Honeybee navigation is a complex interplay of learned and innate sensory processing.