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Flower patterns are adapted for detection by bees

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Abstract

We have demonstrated previously that honeybees use brightness vision mediated by green (or L-) receptor to detect targets from a long distance. They detect circular targets having a dim, for the L-receptor, centre and bright surround from a longer distance than targets having bright centre and dim surround. Here we show that a majority of bee-pollinated flowers have a centre that, for the L-receptor, is dim with bright surround, i.e. have patterns that are easy for a bee to detect. Flowers with dim for the L-receptor surrounds tend to be larger than those with bright surrounds, indicating that flowers compensate for the impaired visibility of their patterns by increasing the size of their displays.

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Abbreviations

S:

Short-wavelength photoreceptors

M:

Middle-wavelength photoreceptors

L:

Long-wavelength photoreceptors

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to R. Menzel for continuous support and to W. Kreisch and M. Ristow for botanical advice. The research was funded by the DFG and by Alexander von Humboldt foundation.

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Correspondence to Misha Vorobyev.

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Hempel de Ibarra, N., Vorobyev, M. Flower patterns are adapted for detection by bees. J Comp Physiol A 195, 319–323 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-009-0412-0

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