MATCHING BEHAVIOR OF HONEYBEES IN A MULTIPLE-CHOICE SITUATION - THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI ON THE CHOICE PROCESS

The matching behavior of honeybees in a patch of four artificial feede rs was studied under two different environmental conditions in order t o examine the involvement of different stimuli in the choice process. Matching fails if all nearby landmarks are removed but can, under cert ain conditions, be restored by subsequently introducing odors, colors, or landmarks showing that there is no unique stimulus modality that p rovides matching. We propose two fundamentally different memory proces ses, both of which affect feeding behavior and support matching. We su ggest that in one case, the probability of choice is determined by the strength of direct associations between locally perceived odor stimul i and reward rates. In the second case, simultaneously perceived color stimuli predict the relative reward rates indirectly by the spatial r epresentation of the four feeders. Both memory processes are likely to interact and lead to efficient feeding behavior during foraging under natural conditions.