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Drone bees fixate the queen with the dorsal frontal part of their compound eyes

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Summary

Free flying drone bees (Apis mellifera carnia (μ) were filmed from the side while chasing the honey bee queen or landing on a hive.

Drones use the upper frontal part of the field of view of their eyes while chasing the queen. They fixate with the lower frontal part of the field of view of their eyes during landing. Drones keep a particular distance from the queen while chasing her.

The diameter of ommatidial lenses in drones shows a maximum in the region where the queen is fixated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Kybernetik, Spemannstrasse 38, D-7400, Tübingen, Germany

    J. P. van Praagh, W. Ribi, C. Wehrhahn & D. Wittmann

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  1. J. P. van Praagh
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  2. W. Ribi
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  3. C. Wehrhahn
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  4. D. Wittmann
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Additional information

Niedersächsisches Landesinstitut für Bienenforschung und Bienenwirtschaftliche Betriebslehre, Wehrstrasse 4, D-3100 Celle, Federal Republic of Germany

Lehrstuhl Entwicklungsphysiologie, Fakultät für Biologie, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle, D-7400 Tübingen, Federal Republic of Germany

We thank Walter F. Gelinski for kind cooperation and Professor W. Engels for support.

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van Praagh, J.P., Ribi, W., Wehrhahn, C. et al. Drone bees fixate the queen with the dorsal frontal part of their compound eyes. J. Comp. Physiol. 136, 263–266 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00657542

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