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Comparative psychophysics of colour preferences in two species of non-eusocial Australian native halictid bees

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Abstract

Colour signalling by flowers appears to be the main plant-pollinator communication system observed across many diverse species and locations worldwide. Bees are considered one of the most important insect pollinators; however, native non-eusocial bees are often understudied compared to managed eusocial species, such as honeybees and bumblebees. Here, we tested two species of native Australian non-eusocial halictid bees on their colour preferences for seven different broadband colours with bee-colour-space dominant wavelengths ranging from 385 to 560 nm and a neutral grey control. Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) lanarium demonstrated preferences for a UV-absorbing white (455 nm) and a yellow (560 nm) stimulus. Lasioglossum (Parasphecodes) sp. showed no colour preferences. Subsequent analyses showed that green contrast and spectral purity had a significant positive relationship with the number of visits by L. lanarium to stimuli. Colour preferences were consistent with other bee species and may be phylogenetically conserved and linked to how trichromatic bees processes visual information, although the relative dearth of empirical evidence on different bee species currently makes it difficult to dissect mechanisms. Past studies and our current results suggest that both innate and environmental factors might both be at play in mediating bee colour preferences.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Kit Prendergast for previously identifying the species used in this study. Scarlett R Howard acknowledges the Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from Deakin University. Adrian G Dyer was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project 160100161. All animal care was in accordance with institutional guidelines. Formal ethics approval was not required for invertebrate behavioural testing.

Funding

SRH was funded by an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from Deakin University. AGD was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project 160100161.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia

    Scarlett R. Howard

  2. School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Scarlett R. Howard, Jair E. Garcia & Adrian G. Dyer

  3. Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Adrian G. Dyer

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  1. Scarlett R. Howard
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  2. Jair E. Garcia
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design, data analysis, interpretation of data, and writing of the manuscript. Scarlett R Howard performed the experiments. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Howard, S.R., Garcia, J.E. & Dyer, A.G. Comparative psychophysics of colour preferences in two species of non-eusocial Australian native halictid bees. J Comp Physiol A 207, 657–666 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01504-3

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