Institute of Sensory Ecology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Laboratório de Abelhas, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
PLoS One. 2018 Sep 28;13(9):e0204663. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204663. eCollection 2018.
Bees use floral colour as a major long distance orientation cue. While it is known for bumblebees and honeybees that dominant wavelength (≙ colour hue), colour contrast and spectral purity (≙ saturation) are crucial for flower detection and discrimination, only little is known about colour preferences in stingless bees (Meliponini). In this experiment freely flying workers of two Brazilian species of stingless bees-Partamona helleri and Melipona bicolor-were tested for colour preferences concerning the colour parameters dominant wavelength, spectral purity and intensity (≙ brightness). Each individual bee had to perform 57 tests, in which a definite series of dual choices between colour stimuli varying in intensity, spectral purity or dominant wavelength were presented. The results show that P. helleri chose colours of higher spectral purity and preferred bluish colours, while M. bicolor made generalized colour choices. Intensity did not influence the colour choice of any bee species. The results of P. helleri are consistent with findings for honeybees and bumblebees, while colour preferences in M. bicolor seem to be absent.
蜜蜂将花卉颜色作为远距离定向的主要线索。虽然人们已经知道大黄蜂和蜜蜂的主导波长（即颜色色调）、颜色对比度和光谱纯度（即饱和度）对于花朵的检测和识别至关重要，但对于无刺蜜蜂（Meliponini）的颜色偏好知之甚少。在这项实验中，两种巴西无刺蜜蜂——Partamona helleri 和 Melipona bicolor 的自由飞行工蜂被测试了它们对颜色参数主导波长、光谱纯度和强度（即亮度）的偏好。每只蜜蜂都要进行 57 次测试，在这些测试中，它们必须在一系列不同强度、光谱纯度或主导波长的双色刺激之间做出明确的选择。结果表明，P. helleri 选择光谱纯度更高的颜色，并偏爱蓝色调，而 M. bicolor 则做出了一般性的颜色选择。强度对任何一种蜜蜂的颜色选择都没有影响。P. helleri 的结果与对蜜蜂和大黄蜂的研究结果一致，而 M. bicolor 的颜色偏好似乎不存在。
