Magnetic compass cues and visual pattern learning in honeybees

Abstract

We show that honeybees can learn to distinguish between two 360 ° panoramic patterns that are identical except for their compass orientation; in this case, the difference was a 90 ° rotation about the vertical axis. To solve this task, bees must learn the patterns with respect to a directional framework. The most powerful cue to direction comes from the sky, but discrimination between patterns is possible in the absence of celestial information. Under some conditions, when other potential directional cues have been disrupted, we show that bees can use a magnetic direction to discriminate between the patterns.