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“Anti-sun orientation” of bees with regard to a field of ultraviolet light

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Summary

When bees dance on a horizontal comb in an enclosed hive, they set the direction of their waggle runs with reference to an artificial light source. If this light contains wavelengths long enough to excite the blue or green receptors in the bee's eye, the dance direction relative to the lamp is the same as it would be relative to the sun. But if the emitted light excites only the UV receptors the bee dances in the opposite direction. Evidently the bee interprets the UV-colored light source as a part of the sky with azimuth opposite to that of the sun.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoologisches Institut II der Universität, Bismarckstrasse 10, D-8520, Erlangen, Federal Republic of Germany

    Wolfgang Edrich, Christa Neumeyer & Otto von Heiversen

Authors
  1. Wolfgang Edrich
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  2. Christa Neumeyer
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  3. Otto von Heiversen
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Edrich, W., Neumeyer, C. & von Heiversen, O. “Anti-sun orientation” of bees with regard to a field of ultraviolet light. J. Comp. Physiol. 134, 151–157 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00610473

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00610473

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