Colour as a backup for scent in the presence of olfactory noise: testing the efficacy backup hypothesis using bumblebees ( Bombus terrestris)

Abstract

The majority of floral displays simultaneously broadcast signals from multiple sensory modalities, but these multimodal displays come at both a metabolic cost and an increased conspicuousness to floral antagonists. Why then do plants invest in these costly multimodal displays? The efficacy backup hypothesis suggests that individual signal components act as a backup for others in the presence of environmental variability. Here, we test the efficacy backup hypothesis by investigating the ability of bumblebees to differentiate between sets of artificial flowers in the presence of either chemical interference or high wind speeds, both of which have the potential to impede the transmission of olfactory signals. We found that both chemical interference and high wind speeds negatively affected forager learning times, but these effects were mitigated in the presence of a visual signal component. Our results suggest that visual signals can act as a backup for olfactory signals in the presence of chemical interference and high wind speeds, and support the efficacy backup hypothesis as an explanation for the evolution of multimodal floral displays.

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): R Soc Open Sci

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): R Soc Open Sci

Journal ID (publisher-id): RSOS

Journal ID (hwp): royopensci

Title: Royal Society Open Science

Publisher: The Royal Society Publishing

ISSN (Electronic): 2054-5703

Publication date Collection: November 2017

Publication date (Electronic): 29 November 2017

Publication date PMC-release: 29 November 2017

Volume: 4

Issue: 11

Affiliations

School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol , Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK

Author notes

Author for correspondence: David A. Lawson e-mail: david.lawson@ 123456bristol.ac.uk

Electronic supplementary material is available online at https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3933130.

Article

Publisher ID: rsos170996

DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170996

PMC ID: 5717666

Copyright statement: © 2017 The Authors.

License:

Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

Product

Funding

Funded by: H2020 European Research Council, http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663;

Award ID: 260920

Funded by: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000268;

Award ID: BB/M002780/1

Categories

Subject: 1001

Subject: 14

Subject: 60

Subject: 204

Subject: Biology (Whole Organism)

Subject: Research Article

Custom metadata

cover-date November, 2017