Animals & nature · 2013
Can bumblebees sense electric fields around flowers and tell them apart?
Yes. In research on Bombus terrestris, bumblebees detected electric fields around flowers and distinguished differences in their patterns and structure. The abstract does not describe the testing conditions or exact comparisons, so it does not establish how broadly this ability applies.
Details
Flowers offer food-seeking insects cues such as color, shape and scent. Research on living bumblebees of the species Bombus terrestris found that electric fields around flowers also serve as cues: the bees could distinguish differences in their patterns and structure. The abstract does not explain how this ability was tested or how many bees were studied.
Electrical information also contributed, together with other floral cues, to better memory of rewards from flowers. The abstract does not quantify the improvement or isolate how much electrical information alone helped.
Visits by naturally charged bees affect these fields, which can change within seconds. The authors suggest that this could enable rapid communication between flowers and their pollinators, rather than demonstrating what a particular change tells a bee.
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