Abstract
AbstractHoneybees, _Apis mellifera_, readily learn to associate odours with sugar rewards and we show here that recall of the olfactory memory, as demonstrated by the bee extending its proboscis when presented with the trained odour, involves first the right and then the left antenna. At 1-2 hour after training using both antennae, recall is possible only when the bee uses its right antenna but by 6 hours after training the memory has made a lateral shift and can now be recalled only when the left antenna is in use. Long-term memory one day after training is also accessed only via the left antenna. This time-dependent shift from right to left antenna is seen as side biases in responding to odour presented to the bee's left or right side and hence may be manifested in natural behaviour.
Highlights
Bees form olfactory memories of the scents of flowers from which they have obtained nectar and this can be demonstrated using the proboscis extension reflex (PER)
This finding of lateralization in the bees numbers amongst the handful of studies showing that invertebrate species may be lateralized, similar to the widespread lateralization of the nervous system in vertebrates[4,5,6]
Other examples of lateralization in invertebrate species include a side bias seen in spitting spiders, Scytodes globula, to probe potential prey with the front legs on the left side[7] and for this and many other species of spiders and ants to sustain injury to legs on the left side[8]
Summary
Bees form olfactory memories of the scents of flowers from which they have obtained nectar and this can be demonstrated using the proboscis extension reflex (PER). We were interested in finding out whether the lateralization of olfactory learning demonstrated in honeybees could be seen in recall of memory at various times after the bees had been trained using both antenna and to see whether such lateralities would be manifested as side biases to odours in bees tested with both antennae functional, and so in a more natural condition than the paradigm requiring one antenna to be coated with latex.
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