The bees in this video are European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum). Although the first bee does not see the crab spider before it lands at the flower, it does manage to evade the attack and then returns to inspect the spider. The subsequent bees observe the spider (which does not appear to be very well camouflaged), hovering briefly in front of it before flying off to forage at a less dangerous spot. Unlike honey bees, these bees do not live in colonies. Therefore, the cost of being killed while foraging is higher (the bee loses all future opportunities to reproduce or gather provisions for its offspring), making the benefit of vigilance higher as well.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Living to forage at another flower
The honey bee featured in the last post stumbled into a crab spider's ambush as it rushed from flower to flower. However, some bees are more sensitive to the risk of choosing the wrong flower to visit. Pausing momentarily to inspect a flower for danger decreases a bee's foraging efficiency, but it can be worth the cost if it extends the lifespan of a forager.
The bees in this video are European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum). Although the first bee does not see the crab spider before it lands at the flower, it does manage to evade the attack and then returns to inspect the spider. The subsequent bees observe the spider (which does not appear to be very well camouflaged), hovering briefly in front of it before flying off to forage at a less dangerous spot. Unlike honey bees, these bees do not live in colonies. Therefore, the cost of being killed while foraging is higher (the bee loses all future opportunities to reproduce or gather provisions for its offspring), making the benefit of vigilance higher as well.
The bees in this video are European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum). Although the first bee does not see the crab spider before it lands at the flower, it does manage to evade the attack and then returns to inspect the spider. The subsequent bees observe the spider (which does not appear to be very well camouflaged), hovering briefly in front of it before flying off to forage at a less dangerous spot. Unlike honey bees, these bees do not live in colonies. Therefore, the cost of being killed while foraging is higher (the bee loses all future opportunities to reproduce or gather provisions for its offspring), making the benefit of vigilance higher as well.
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