Comparative studies of the mechanisms of information transfer in the d
ance language of honeybees have recently led to an evolutionary scenar
io, assuming that acoustic signals replace visual communication signal
s in species that are forced to communicate in the dark, either becaus
e of nesting in dark cavities like Apis mellifera and Apis cerana or b
ecause of nocturnal activity like Apis dorsata. To test this idea, the
dance language of the giant honeybee Apis laboriosa, which is closely
related to Apis dorsata, but exclusively diurnal, was studied. We obs
erved the dances, determined the flight range and recorded and analyze
d acoustic signals emitted by worker bees. The dances of this species
do not contain any acoustic signals, indicating that acoustic signalli
ng of the location of food sources is indeed restricted to species whi
ch need to dance under low light intensities. The evolutionary implica
tions are discussed.