Repellent foraging scent recognition across bee families

Abstract

Honeybees and bumblebees avoid probing flowers that have been recently depleted by conspecifics, presumably repelled by odours deposited by the previous visitor (foraging scent marks). Here we show that females of the solitary wool-carder bee Anthidium manicatum (Megachilidae) discriminate against previously visited inflorescences (Stachys officinalis), and that discrimination is equally strong regardless of whether the previous visitor is conspecific or belongs to a different bee family (Bombus terrestris, Apidae). Conversely, workers of B. terrestris responded differentially to different previous visitors, with previous visits by A. manicatum eliciting the most pronounced repellent effect. This finding may have resulted from the bumblebees' avoidance of impending aggression by territorial A. manicatum males. Our results emphasize that foraging scent mark recognition is not necessarily linked to sociality, but a trait of individuals foraging in an unpredictable flower visitor community. © INRA/DIB-AGIB/ EDP Sciences, 2005.