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Compass Orientation

On approach to the flower, the bumblebees faced broadly to the north. However, on departure their compass orientations were more defined -- particularly during the initial phase of the learning flight when they are focused on the surroundings rather than the flower -- and there were marked differences between the groups. WEST bees oriented to the west, NORTH bees somewhat to the east, and EAST bees oriented both north and east.

Frequency distributions (bin width of 20°) of body orientations relative to Northʹ (an approximation of magnetic north, being a line between the flower and N-cyl landmark) for the pooled approach flights and initial phases of learning flights for each group of bees. Dashed vertical lines indicate the mean body orientation. The direction of Northʹ is taken as 0°, and body orientations to the right of Northʹ are positive, while orientations to the left of Northʹ are negative, to a maximum of ±180°.

Retinal Positions of Landmarks

On approach to the flower, all groups tended to keep the single landmark in front of them, regardless of which position it was in. In contrast, each group seemed to focus on different landmarks during the learning flight, particularly during the initial phase. WEST bees looked mostly toward the west landmark, NORTH bees toward the east landmark, and EAST bees toward the north landmark (and to a lesser degree, the east landmark).

Frequency distributions (bin width of 20°) of the retinal positions of each landmark (W-cyl, N-cyl and E-cyl) for the pooled approach flights and initial phases of learning flights for each group of bees. Dashed vertical lines indicate the mean retinal position of each landmark. The direction in which the bee is facing is taken as 0°, and the retinal position of a landmark is taken as the angle between the orientation of the bee and a vector to the landmark, where angles to the right of the bee are positive, and angles to the left of the bee are negative, to a maximum of ±180°.


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Last updated: 05/21/19