Visual resolution of the orientation cue by the honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Abstract

Bees were trained to discriminate between a pattern with two or more black bars and a similar pattern with the bars at right angles. Earlier measures of the resolution of oblique black and white regular gratings of different periods were confirmed. The positions of the training bars were shifted every 5 min to prevent the bees from using their locations as cues. To measure the length of the detectors of edge orientation, the trained bees were tested with targets filled with parallel short black/white edges of various lengths. The minimum individual length of edge required to discriminate the orientation cue was found to be near 3°, and similar for vertical, horizontal and oblique edges. This is the first time that this kind of resolution has been measured in an invertebrate. The bees learn and recognize the edge orientation, not the lay-out of the pattern.