Question

A bee species forages for nectar on a plant species which has yellow flowers. To find out what cues the bees use to recognize the flowers, researchers performed the following experiment. They presented individual bees with the stimuli given below and examined the proportion of bees that approached and landed on the stimuli. The results are shown below.

Which one or more of the following interpretation(s) of the experiment is/are correct?

• A. All flower colours other than yellow are ineffective at eliciting approach responses.
• B. Olfactory cues are sufficient to elicit approach responses.
• C. Visual cues are necessary to elicit approach responses.
• D. Visual cues are sufficient to elicit approach responses.

Hint:

Bees rely on visual cues, particularly the colour of flowers, to identify and approach them. The presence of visual cues, such as the colour yellow, is key to eliciting approach responses.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C, D

Step 1: Analyze the results.
The bees responded to yellow flowers regardless of whether the flowers were covered or not, indicating that the visual cue of yellow is a key factor in attracting bees. When the flowers were covered with non-transparent bags (black plastic or cloth), the response was 0%, suggesting that the visual aspect is important.
Step 2: Interpretation of options.
- (A) This is correct because the bees did not respond to non-yellow flowers (even when the flowers were covered in black bags).
- (B) This is incorrect because the bees’ response was based on the visual cue of yellow, not olfactory cues.
- (C) This is correct because the bees approached flowers only when the yellow colour was visible, showing the importance of visual cues.
- (D) This is incorrect because visual cues alone were sufficient to elicit the response.
Step 3: Conclusion.
The correct interpretations are (A) and (C), as the bees used visual cues, specifically the yellow colour of the flowers, to identify and approach the flowers.