Honeybees Use Multiple Invariants to Control Their Altitude

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Wind and route choice affect performance of bees flying above versus within a cluttered obstacle field

Nicholas P. Burnett et al.

Summary: Bees flying through natural landscapes face physical challenges and display flexibility in their flight choices. Factors such as obstacle height and wind condition affect their flight altitude, ground speed, and lateral excursions.

PLOS ONE (2022)

Add to Collection

Article Entomology

An experimental setup for decoupling optical invariants in honeybees' altitude control

Aimie Berger Dauxere et al.

Summary: Despite having significantly fewer neurons than pilots, bees outperform them in navigational tasks. A new experimental setup was designed to investigate whether bees could rely on multiple optical invariants for navigation, similarly to pilots. The findings provide evidence of bees using a specific optical invariant for controlling their altitude and suggest the integration process involved in combining these invariants.

JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY (2022)

Add to Collection

Article Biology

Floor and ceiling mirror configurations to study altitude control in honeybees

Julien R. Serres et al.

Summary: A study was conducted to investigate the altitude control mechanism in honeybees. An optical configuration was designed to mimic the conditions experienced by honeybees over a natural water body. The results confirmed that a reduction or absence of ventral optic flow in honeybees leads to a loss in altitude and eventual collision with the floor.

BIOLOGY LETTERS (2022)

Add to Collection

Article Biology

The effect of optic flow cues on honeybee flight control in wind

Emily Baird et al.

Summary: The study demonstrates that honeybees adjust their flight altitude in response to head and tail winds, maintaining constant ground speed using both longitudinal and transverse optic flow cues. When transverse optic flow cues are minimized, the effect of wind on ground height is abolished. This simple strategy could potentially be used in developing lightweight and robust systems for guiding autonomous flying vehicles in natural environments.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Natural image statistics in the dorsal and ventral visual field match a switch in flight behaviour of a hawkmoth

Ronja Bigge et al.

CURRENT BIOLOGY (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Entomology

Ecological Entomology: How Is Gibson's Framework Useful?

Aimie Berger Dauxere et al.

Summary: This paper discusses the definition of optic flow and the application of Gibson's ecological approach in the field of perception and action, emphasizing the importance of this method in research and suggesting directions for further study.

INSECTS (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences