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The flight paths of honeybees recruited by the waggle dance

Author

Listed:
  • J. R. Riley

    (Rothamsted Research)

  • U. Greggers

    (Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie)

  • A. D. Smith

    (Rothamsted Research)

  • D. R. Reynolds

    (University of Greenwich)

  • R. Menzel

    (Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie)

Abstract

The waggle dance decoded Karl von Frisch won a Nobel prize for discovering that when honeybee foragers return to the hive after discovering a new food source, they perform a ‘waggle dance’ conveying coded information about the range and bearing of the food. He hypothesized that ‘recruits’ attending the dance read the code, and use the information to get to the food. Sceptics suggested that the watching bees simply picked up food odours from the dancer and then searched for the food by smell. Though most biologists are inclined to von Frisch's view of the dance as a source of information, the quantitative description of how the ‘code’ is translated into a flightplan has been lacking. Now with the advent of a radar tracking system capable of following the flight paths of individual recruits, Riley et al. show that the bees not only read the dance, but allow for wind drift on their way to the target.

Suggested Citation

  • J. R. Riley & U. Greggers & A. D. Smith & D. R. Reynolds & R. Menzel, 2005. "The flight paths of honeybees recruited by the waggle dance," Nature, Nature, vol. 435(7039), pages 205-207, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:435:y:2005:i:7039:d:10.1038_nature03526
    DOI: 10.1038/nature03526
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    Cited by:

    1. Becher, M.A. & Grimm, V. & Knapp, J. & Horn, J. & Twiston-Davies, G. & Osborne, J.L., 2016. "BEESCOUT: A model of bee scouting behaviour and a software tool for characterizing nectar/pollen landscapes for BEEHAVE," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 340(C), pages 126-133.
    2. Fernando Wario & Benjamin Wild & Raúl Rojas & Tim Landgraf, 2017. "Automatic detection and decoding of honey bee waggle dances," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Richard J Bomphrey & Simon M Walker & Graham K Taylor, 2009. "The Typical Flight Performance of Blowflies: Measuring the Normal Performance Envelope of Calliphora vicina Using a Novel Corner-Cube Arena," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(11), pages 1-10, November.
    4. Mathieu Lihoreau & Nigel E Raine & Andrew M Reynolds & Ralph J Stelzer & Ka S Lim & Alan D Smith & Juliet L Osborne & Lars Chittka, 2012. "Radar Tracking and Motion-Sensitive Cameras on Flowers Reveal the Development of Pollinator Multi-Destination Routes over Large Spatial Scales," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Annie Lang & Rachel L. Bailey & Sean Ryan Connolly, 2015. "Encoding Systems and Evolved Message Processing: Pictures Enable Action, Words Enable Thinking," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(1), pages 34-43.
    6. Zhang, Zhihui & Jing, Rui & Lin, Jian & Wang, Xiaonan & van Dam, Koen H. & Wang, Meng & Meng, Chao & Xie, Shan & Zhao, Yingru, 2020. "Combining agent-based residential demand modeling with design optimization for integrated energy systems planning and operation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).

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