VISUALLY MEDIATED ODOMETRY IN HONEYBEES

The ability of honeybees to gauge the distances of short flights was i nvestigated under controlled laboratory conditions where a variety of potential odometric cues such as flight duration, energy consumption, image motion, airspeed, inertial navigation and landmarks were manipul ated. Our findings indicate that honeybees can indeed measure short di stances travelled and that they do so solely by analysis of image moti on. Visual odometry seems to rely primarily on the motion that is sens ed by the lateral regions of the visual field. Computation of distance flown is re-commenced whenever a prominent landmark is encountered en route. 'Re-setting' the odometer (or starting a new one) at each land mark facilitates accurate long-range navigation by preventing excessiv e accumulation of odometric errors. Distance appears to be learnt on t he way to the food source and not on the way back.