A new paper from the lab, published in Behavioral Ecology, assesses how bumble bee foraging decisions are affected by interactions between co-occurring traits of floral communities. Using a full factorial experimental design, this study examines how flower number, signal complexity, and nectar reliability affect which flowers bumble bees choose to feed from. The results show that all of these traits significantly affect bumble bee decision-making and, notably, that bumble bees forage more selectively when many options are present.
The paper can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary190
Dunlap Cognitive Ecology Lab 