Testing colour discrimination models with free-flying bumblebees (Bombus terrestris L.): the unexpected effect of inspection time

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Testing colour discrimination models with free-flying bumblebees (Bombus terrestris L.): the unexpected effect of inspection time Francismeire J. Telles1* and Miguel A. Rodríguez-Gironés1 1 Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas -EEZA, Departament of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology , Spain Several models have been proposed to explain how bees see and discriminate colours. To investigate the accuracy of two contending models, the colour hexagon and the colour opponent coding model (COC), we trained 64 bumblebees to discriminate between four colour pairs (16 bees per pair), having the same hexagon units (0.05) but differing in their COC distances (0.55-1.5 units). While the proportion of correct choices increased with COC distance, the effect was mediated by an increase in the time that bumblebees spent inspecting colours before choosing one, and the effect of COC distance on performance disappeared after statistically correcting for inspection time. Neither of the models could fully account for the data: the colour hexagon model cannot explain the relationship between COC distance and inspection time, and the COC model predicted that, after correcting for inspection time, performance should increase with COC distance. Figure 1 Acknowledgements Spanish National Research Council – CSIC and Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas – EEZA. This work was supported by CGL2010-16795 References Backhaus, W. (1991). Color Opponent Coding in the Visual System of the Honeybee. Vision Res., 31(7), 1381–1397. Chittka, L. (1992). The colour hexagon: a chromaticity diagram based on photoreceptor excitations as a generalized representation of colour opponency. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 170(5), 533–543. doi:10.1007/BF00199331 Keywords: Bumblebees, vision models, Colour discrimination, search time, Colour Hexagon Model, Colour Opponent Coding Model Conference: International Conference on Invertebrate Vision, Fjälkinge, Sweden, 1 Aug - 8 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Poster presentation preferred Topic: Colour and polarisation vision Citation: Telles FJ and Rodríguez-Gironés MA (2019). Testing colour discrimination models with free-flying bumblebees (Bombus terrestris L.): the unexpected effect of inspection time. Front. Physiol. Conference Abstract: International Conference on Invertebrate Vision. doi: 10.3389/conf.fphys.2013.25.00108 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 23 Apr 2013; Published Online: 09 Dec 2019. * Correspondence: Miss. Francismeire J Telles, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas -EEZA, Departament of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Almería, Almería, 04120, Spain, meirecuesta@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Francismeire J Telles Miguel A Rodríguez-Gironés Google Francismeire J Telles Miguel A Rodríguez-Gironés Google Scholar Francismeire J Telles Miguel A Rodríguez-Gironés PubMed Francismeire J Telles Miguel A Rodríguez-Gironés Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.