Abstract
Olfactory learning and floral scents are co-adaptive traits in the plant–pollinator relationship. However, how scent relates to cognition and learning in the diverse group of Neotropical stingless bees is largely unknown. Here we evaluated the ability of Melipona eburnea to be conditioned to scent using the proboscis extension reflex (PER) protocol. Stingless bees did not show PER while harnessed but were able to be PER conditioned to scent when free-to-move in a mini-cage (fmPER). We evaluated the effect of: 1) unconditioned stimulus (US) reward, and 2) previous scent–reward associations on olfactory learning performance. When using unscented-US, PER-responses were low on day 1, but using scented-US reward the olfactory PER-response increased on day 1. On day 2 PER performance greatly increased in bees that previously had experienced the same odor and reward combination, while bees that experienced a different odor on day 2 showed poor olfactory learning. Bees showed higher olfactory PER conditioning to guava than to mango odor. The effect of the unconditioned stimulus reward was not a significant factor in the model on day 2. This indicates that olfactory learning performance can increase via either taste receptors or accumulated experience with the same odor. Our results have application in agriculture and pollination ecology.
Highlights
Classical and operant conditioning are two fundamental aspects of learning and memory [1,2], which help to explain how organisms perceive, process, and react to environmental information [3].Studies of classical conditioning in different types of organisms are relevant in comparative models of cognitive architectures for various taxa [4]
Our study showed that scented-unconditioned stimulus (US) increased olfactory learning and increased proboscis extension reflex (PER) response was differential to odor type, indicating that stingless bees M. eburnea respond to the compounds present in the sucrose solution differentially
Classical conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex (PER) in the stingless bee Melipona eburnea depended on the protocol employed
Summary
Classical and operant conditioning are two fundamental aspects of learning and memory [1,2], which help to explain how organisms perceive, process, and react to environmental information [3]. Studies of classical conditioning in different types of organisms are relevant in comparative models of cognitive architectures for various taxa [4]. A very limited number of species largely drives our understanding of insect learning and memory. Insects 2019, 10, 412 and refined by [13], has emerged as a powerful Pavlovian conditioning protocol, mainly in studies of olfactory conditioning of honey bees [5]. Its power lies in its usefulness for testing appetitive learning and associated memory at levels of analysis that range from behavioral to molecular [14,15,16,17,18]
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