Olfactory learning in the stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini)

Abstract

Tetragonisca angustula stingless bees are considered as solitary foragers that lack speciWc communication strategies. In their orientation towards a food source, these social bees use chemical cues left by co-speciWcs and the information obtained in previous foraging trips by the association of visual stimuli with the food reward. Here, we investigated their ability to learn the association between odors and reward (sugar solution) and the eVect on learning of previous encounters with scented food either inside the hive or during foraging. During food choice experiments, when the odor associated with the food was encountered at the feeding site, the bees’ choice is biased to the same odor afterwards. The same was not the case when scented food was placed inside the nest. We also performed a diVerential olfactory conditioning of proboscis extension response with this species for the Wrst time. Inexperienced bees did not show signiWcant discrimination levels. However, when they had had already interacted with scented food inside the hive, they were able to learn the association with a speciWc odor. Possible olfactory information circulation inside the hive and its use in their foraging strategies is discussed.