Among the bees, there are also right-handers and left-handers. Free Technical Library News

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Among the bees, there are also right-handers and left-handers

10.11.2017

Entomologists from the University of Queensland have proven that bees can have an individual tendency to choose right or left when flying. Approximately a quarter of the insects participating in the experiment of scientists turned out to be "right-handed", another quarter - "left-handed", while all other animals did not show preferences.

Studies show that insects exhibit certain behaviors when navigating, such as flying more slowly in narrow passages (perhaps to reduce the risk of injury). In addition, they may have individual inclinations, but so far this has been little studied.

The authors of the new work decided to test two hypotheses at once - whether honey bees will choose a wide path more often than a narrow one, and whether there are “right-handed” and “left-handed” among these animals. The researchers built a small tunnel between the hive and the feeder, in the middle of which there was an obstacle. It was a partition either with a wide and narrow, or with two identical openings. The insects had to fly through this obstacle to get food, while the scientists monitored their behavior. About 100 bees participated in the experiment.

When the size of the holes in the tunnel differed, the bees usually preferred to fly along a wider path - and the larger the difference, the more pronounced this pattern was. However, when the passages in the tunnel were the same, the bees showed individual differences: while 55% of the insects chose the path randomly, flying either through the right or through the left hole, the remaining animals were divided approximately equally into "right-handers" and "left-handers". These bees chose one side time after time.

Additional experiments confirmed the result. In particular, when the bee was forced to fly not through its "own" side - for example, when the "right-handed" bee had to fly through the left, but wider passage - it needed a little more time to make a decision. If the path more convenient for the insect turned out to be simultaneously wider, then it reacted almost instantly.

Scientists suggest that such tendencies may help bees navigate. If there were no “right-handers” and “left-handers” among the bees, then perhaps they would all fly in the same ways, which would make movement difficult. On the other hand, if all insects had such tendencies, it would lead to a similar problem. Divide into three groups, according to the researchers, this is the most convenient strategy.

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