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Colour signalling by flowers appears to be the main plant-pollinator communication system observed across many diverse species and locations worldwide. Bees are considered one of the most important insect pollinators; however, native non-eusocial bees are often understudied compared to managed eusocial species, such as honeybees and bumblebees. Here, we tested two species of native Australian non-eusocial halictid bees on their colour preferences for seven different broadband colours with bee-colour-space dominant wavelengths ranging from 385 to 560 nm and a neutral grey control. Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) lanarium demonstrated preferences for a UV-absorbing white (455 nm) and a yellow (560 nm) stimulus. Lasioglossum (Parasphecodes) sp. showed no colour preferences. Subsequent analyses showed that green contrast and spectral purity had a significant positive relationship with the number of visits by L. lanarium to stimuli. Colour preferences were consistent with other bee species and may be phylogenetically conserved and linked to how trichromatic bees processes visual information, although the relative dearth of empirical evidence on different bee species currently makes it difficult to dissect mechanisms. Past studies and our current results suggest that both innate and environmental factors might both be at play in mediating bee colour preferences.
Scarlett R. Howard; Jair E. Garcia; Adrian G. Dyer. Comparative psychophysics of colour preferences in two species of non-eusocial Australian native halictid bees. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 2021, 1 -10.
AMA StyleScarlett R. Howard, Jair E. Garcia, Adrian G. Dyer. Comparative psychophysics of colour preferences in two species of non-eusocial Australian native halictid bees. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. 2021; ():1-10.
Chicago/Turabian StyleScarlett R. Howard; Jair E. Garcia; Adrian G. Dyer. 2021. "Comparative psychophysics of colour preferences in two species of non-eusocial Australian native halictid bees." Journal of Comparative Physiology A , no. : 1-10.
The ability of visual generalists to see and perceive displayed colour signals is essential to understanding decision making in natural environments. Whilst modelling approaches have typically considered relatively simple physiological explanations of how colour may be processed, data on key bee species reveals that colour is a complex multistage perception largely generated by opponent neural representations in a brain. Thus, a biologically meaningful unit of colour information must consider the psychophysics responses of an animal engaged in colour decision making. We extracted previously collected psychophysics data for a Violet-Sensitive (VS) bird, the pigeon (Columba livia), and used a non-linear function that reliably represents the behavioural choices of hymenopteran and dipteran pollinators to produce the first behaviourally validated and biologically meaningful representation of how VS birds use colour information in a probabilistic way. The function describes how similar or dis-similar spectral information can lead to different choice behaviours in birds, even though all such spectral information is above discrimination threshold. This new representation of bird vision will enable enhanced modelling representations of how bird vision can sense and use colour information in complex environments.
Jair E. Garcia; Detlef H. Rohr; Adrian G. Dyer. Colour Discrimination From Perceived Differences by Birds. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 2021, 9, 1 .
AMA StyleJair E. Garcia, Detlef H. Rohr, Adrian G. Dyer. Colour Discrimination From Perceived Differences by Birds. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 2021; 9 ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJair E. Garcia; Detlef H. Rohr; Adrian G. Dyer. 2021. "Colour Discrimination From Perceived Differences by Birds." Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9, no. : 1.
There is increasing interest in developing urban design principles that incorporate good ecological management. Research on understanding the distribution and role of beneficial pollinating insects, in particular, is changing our view of the ecological value of cities. With the rapid expansion of the built environment comes a need to understand how insects may be affected in extensive urban areas. We therefore investigated insect pollinator capture rates in a rapidly growing and densely urbanized city (Melbourne, Australia). We identified a remnant native habitat contained within the expansive urban boundary, and established study sites at two nearby populated urban areas. We employed standard pan trap sampling techniques to passively sample insect orders in the different environments. Our results show that, even though the types of taxonomic groups of insects captured are comparable between locations, important pollinators like bees and hoverflies were more frequently captured in the remnant native habitat. By contrast, beetles (Coleoptera) and butterflies/moths (Lepidoptera) were more frequently observed in the urban residential regions. Our results suggest that the maintenance of native habitat zones within cities is likely to be valuable for the conservation of bees and the ecosystem services they provide.
Mani Shrestha; Jair Garcia; Freya Thomas; Scarlett Howard; Justin Chua; Thomas Tscheulin; Alan Dorin; Anders Nielsen; Adrian Dyer. Insects in the City: Does Remnant Native Habitat Influence Insect Order Distributions? Diversity 2021, 13, 148 .
AMA StyleMani Shrestha, Jair Garcia, Freya Thomas, Scarlett Howard, Justin Chua, Thomas Tscheulin, Alan Dorin, Anders Nielsen, Adrian Dyer. Insects in the City: Does Remnant Native Habitat Influence Insect Order Distributions? Diversity. 2021; 13 (4):148.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMani Shrestha; Jair Garcia; Freya Thomas; Scarlett Howard; Justin Chua; Thomas Tscheulin; Alan Dorin; Anders Nielsen; Adrian Dyer. 2021. "Insects in the City: Does Remnant Native Habitat Influence Insect Order Distributions?" Diversity 13, no. 4: 148.
Studying flower color evolution can be challenging as it may require several different areas of expertise, ranging from botany and ecology through to understanding color sensing of insects and thus how they perceive flower signals. Whilst studies often view plant-pollinator interactions from the plant's perspective, there is growing evidence from psychophysics studies that pollinators have their own complex decision making processes depending on their perception of color, viewing conditions and individual experience. Mimicry of rewarding flowers by orchids is a fascinating system for studying the pollinator decision making process, as rewarding model flowering plants and mimics can be clearly characterized. Here, we focus on a system where the rewardless orchid Eulophia zeyheriana mimics the floral color of Wahlenbergia cuspidata (Campanulaceae) to attract its pollinator species, a halictid bee. Using recently developed psychophysics principles, we explore whether the color perception of an insect observer encountering variable model and mimic flower color signals can help explain why species with non-rewarding flowers can exist in nature. Our approach involves the use of color discrimination functions rather than relying on discrimination thresholds, and the use of statistical distributions to model intraspecific color variations. Results show that whilst an experienced insect observer can frequently make accurate discriminations between mimic and rewarding flowers, intraspecific signal variability leads to overlap in the perceived color, which will frequently confuse an inexperienced pollinator. This new perspective provides an improved way to incorporate pollinator decision making into the complex field of plant-pollinator interactions.
Jair E. Garcia; Ryan D. Phillips; Craig I. Peter; Adrian G. Dyer. Changing How Biologists View Flowers—Color as a Perception Not a Trait. Frontiers in Plant Science 2020, 11, 1 .
AMA StyleJair E. Garcia, Ryan D. Phillips, Craig I. Peter, Adrian G. Dyer. Changing How Biologists View Flowers—Color as a Perception Not a Trait. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2020; 11 ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJair E. Garcia; Ryan D. Phillips; Craig I. Peter; Adrian G. Dyer. 2020. "Changing How Biologists View Flowers—Color as a Perception Not a Trait." Frontiers in Plant Science 11, no. : 1.
Time is a fundamental dimension of all biological events and it is often assumed that animals have the capacity to track the duration of experienced events (known as interval timing). Animals can potentially use temporal information as a cue during foraging, communication, predator avoidance, or navigation. Interval timing has been traditionally investigated in controlled laboratory conditions but its ecological relevance in natural environments remains unclear. While animals may time events in artificial and highly controlled conditions, they may not necessarily use temporal information in natural environments where they have access to other cues that may have more relevance than temporal information. Herein we critically evaluate the ecological contexts where interval timing has been suggested to provide adaptive value for animals. We further discuss attributes of interval timing that are rarely considered in controlled laboratory studies. Finally, we encourage consideration of ecological relevance when designing future interval‐timing studies and propose future directions for such experiments.
Leslie Ng; Jair E. Garcia; Adrian G. Dyer; Devi Stuart‐Fox. The ecological significance of time sense in animals. Biological Reviews 2020, 96, 526 -540.
AMA StyleLeslie Ng, Jair E. Garcia, Adrian G. Dyer, Devi Stuart‐Fox. The ecological significance of time sense in animals. Biological Reviews. 2020; 96 (2):526-540.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLeslie Ng; Jair E. Garcia; Adrian G. Dyer; Devi Stuart‐Fox. 2020. "The ecological significance of time sense in animals." Biological Reviews 96, no. 2: 526-540.
Sleep inertia is a measurable decline in cognition some people experience upon and following awakening. However, a systematic review of the current up to date evidence of audio as a countermeasure has yet to be reported. Thus, to amend this gap in knowledge, the authors conducted this systematic review beginning with searches in three primary databases for studies published between the inception date of each journal and the year 2020. Search terms contained “Sleep Inertia” paired with: “Sound”; “Noise”; “Music”; “Alarm”; “Alarm Tone”; “Alarm Sound”; “Alarm Noise”; “Alarm Music”; “Alarm Clock”; “Fire Alarm”, and “Smoke Alarm”. From 341 study results, twelve were identified for inclusion against a priori conditions. A structured narrative synthesis approach generated three key auditory stimulus themes-(i) Noise, (ii) Emergency tone sequences; Voice Alarms and Hybrids, and (iii) Music. Across themes, participants have been assessed in two situational categories: emergency, and non-emergency awakenings. The results indicate that for children awakening in emergency conditions, a low pitch alarm or voice warnings appear to be more effective in counteracting the effects of sleep inertia than alarms with higher frequencies. For adults abruptly awakened, there is insufficient evidence to support firm conclusions regarding alarm types and voice signals. Positive results have been found in non-emergency awakenings for musical treatments in adults who preferred popular music, and alarms with melodic qualities. The results observed reflect the potential for sound, voice, and musical treatments to counteract sleep inertia post-awakening, and emphasize the requirements for further research in this domain.
Stuart J. McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. Alarm Tones, Voice Warnings, and Musical Treatments: A Systematic Review of Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia in Abrupt and Casual Awakenings. Clocks & Sleep 2020, 2, 416 -433.
AMA StyleStuart J. McFarlane, Jair E. Garcia, Darrin S. Verhagen, Adrian G. Dyer. Alarm Tones, Voice Warnings, and Musical Treatments: A Systematic Review of Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia in Abrupt and Casual Awakenings. Clocks & Sleep. 2020; 2 (4):416-433.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStuart J. McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. 2020. "Alarm Tones, Voice Warnings, and Musical Treatments: A Systematic Review of Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia in Abrupt and Casual Awakenings." Clocks & Sleep 2, no. 4: 416-433.
Plant organs including flowers and leaves typically have a variety of different micro-structures present on the epidermal surface. These structures can produce measurable optical effects with viewing angle including shifts in peak reflectance and intensity; however, these different structures can also modulate hydrophobic properties of the surfaces. For some species optical effects have been proposed to act as signals to enhance pollination interactions, whilst the ability to efficiently shed water provides physiological advantages to plants in terms of gas exchange and reducing infections. Currently, little is known about epidermal surface structure of flowering plants in the Southern Hemisphere, and how micro-surface may be related with either hydrophobicity or visual signalling. We measured four Australian native species and two naturalised species using a combination of techniques including SEM imaging, spectral sampling with a goniometer and contact angle measurements. Spectral data were evaluated in relation to published psychophysics results for important pollinators and reveal that potential visual changes, where present, were unlikely to be perceived by relevant pollinators. Nevertheless, hydrophobicity also did not simply explain petal surfaces as similar structures could in some cases result in very different levels of water repellency.
Jair E. Garcia; Mani Shrestha; Laura Ospina-Rozo; Chaitali Dekiwadia; Matthew R. Field; Ji Sheng Ma; Nhiem Tran; Adrian G. Dyer; Kate Fox; Andrew D. Greentree. Iridescence and hydrophobicity have no clear delineation that explains flower petal micro-surface. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 1 -12.
AMA StyleJair E. Garcia, Mani Shrestha, Laura Ospina-Rozo, Chaitali Dekiwadia, Matthew R. Field, Ji Sheng Ma, Nhiem Tran, Adrian G. Dyer, Kate Fox, Andrew D. Greentree. Iridescence and hydrophobicity have no clear delineation that explains flower petal micro-surface. Scientific Reports. 2020; 10 (1):1-12.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJair E. Garcia; Mani Shrestha; Laura Ospina-Rozo; Chaitali Dekiwadia; Matthew R. Field; Ji Sheng Ma; Nhiem Tran; Adrian G. Dyer; Kate Fox; Andrew D. Greentree. 2020. "Iridescence and hydrophobicity have no clear delineation that explains flower petal micro-surface." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1: 1-12.
Sleep inertia is a decline in cognition one may experience upon and following awakening. A recent study revealed that an alarm sound perceived as melodic by participants displayed a significant relationship to reports of reductions in perceived sleep inertia. This current research builds on these findings by testing the effect melody and rhythm exhibit on sleep inertia for subjects awakening in their habitual environments. Two test Groups (A and B; N = 10 each) completed an online psychomotor experiment and questionnaire in two separate test sessions immediately following awakening from nocturnal sleep. Both groups responded to a control stimulus in the first session, while in the second session, Group A experienced a melodic treatment, and Group B a rhythmic treatment. The results show that the melodic treatment significantly decreased attentional lapses, false starts, and had a significantly improved psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) performance score than the control. There was no significant result for reaction time or response speed. Additionally, no significant difference was observed for all PVT metrics between the control–rhythmic conditions. The results from this analysis support melodies’ potential to counteract symptoms of sleep inertia by the observed increase in participant vigilance following waking from nocturnal sleep.
Stuart J. McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia: Exploring the Effect of Melody and Rhythm in an Ecological Context. Clocks & Sleep 2020, 2, 208 -224.
AMA StyleStuart J. McFarlane, Jair E. Garcia, Darrin S. Verhagen, Adrian G. Dyer. Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia: Exploring the Effect of Melody and Rhythm in an Ecological Context. Clocks & Sleep. 2020; 2 (2):208-224.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStuart J. McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. 2020. "Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia: Exploring the Effect of Melody and Rhythm in an Ecological Context." Clocks & Sleep 2, no. 2: 208-224.
Sleep inertia is the potentially harmful decline in cognition that occurs upon and following awakening. Sound has been shown to counteract the negative symptoms of sleep inertia, with a recent study revealing that an alarm perceived as melodic by participants displayed a significant relationship to reports of reductions in perceived sleep inertia. This current research builds on these findings by specifically testing the effect melodic and rhythmic stimuli exhibit on sleep inertia for subjects awakening in their habitual environments. Two test Groups (A & B; N = 10 equally) completed an online psychomotor experiment and questionnaire in two separate test sessions immediately following awakening from nocturnal sleep epochs. Both groups responded to a Control stimulus in the first session, while in the second session, Group A experienced a Melodic treatment, and Group B the Rhythmic. The results show that the melodic treatment significantly decreased attentional Lapses, False Starts and had a significantly improved PVT Performance Score than the Control. There was no significant result for Reaction Time or Response Speed. Additionally, no significant difference was observed for all PVT metrics between the Control – Rhythmic conditions. The results support melodies potential to counteract symptoms of sleep inertia by the observed increase in participant vigilance following waking. Specifically, a melodically rhythmic contour is highlighted as a significant musical treatment noteworthy of consideration when designing alarm compositions for the reduction of sleep inertia. As auditory assisted awakening is a common within modern society, improvements in alarm sound design may have advantages in domestic and commercial settings.
Stuart James McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia: An Ecological Study Examining the Influence of Melody and Rhythm. 2020, 1 .
AMA StyleStuart James McFarlane, Jair E. Garcia, Darrin S. Verhagen, Adrian G. Dyer. Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia: An Ecological Study Examining the Influence of Melody and Rhythm. . 2020; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStuart James McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. 2020. "Auditory Countermeasures for Sleep Inertia: An Ecological Study Examining the Influence of Melody and Rhythm." , no. : 1.
Sleep inertia is a potentially dangerous reduction in human alertness and occurs 0–4 hours after waking. The type of sound people set as their alarm for waking has been shown to reduce the effects of sleep inertia, however, the elemental musical factors that underpin these waking sounds and their relationships remain unclear. The goal of this research is to understand how a particular sound or music chosen to assist waking may counteract sleep inertia, and more specifically, what elements of these sounds may contribute to its reduction. Through an anonymous, self-report online questionnaire, fifty participants (N = 50) reported attributes of their preferred waking sound, their feeling towards the waking sound, and perceived sleep inertia after waking. This data enabled the analysis and comparison between these responses to identify statistically significant relationships. Our results did not return any significant association between sleep inertia and the reported waking sound type, nor the subject’s feeling towards their sound. However, the analysis did reveal that a sound which is ranked as melodic by participants shows a significant relationship to reports of reductions in perceived sleep inertia, and in contrast, sound rated as neutral (neither unmelodic nor melodic) returns a significant relationship to the reports of increases in perceived sleep inertia. Additionally, our secondary analysis revealed that a sound rated as melodic is considered to be more rhythmic than a melodically neutral interpretation. Together these findings raise questions regarding the impact melody and rhythm may hold with respect to sleep inertia intensity. Considering that the implementation of auditory assisted awakening is a common occurrence, the musical elements of a chosen waking sound may be an area to further interrogate with respect to counteracting sleep inertia.
Stuart McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. Alarm tones, music and their elements: Analysis of reported waking sounds to counteract sleep inertia. PLOS ONE 2020, 15, e0215788 .
AMA StyleStuart McFarlane, Jair E. Garcia, Darrin S. Verhagen, Adrian G. Dyer. Alarm tones, music and their elements: Analysis of reported waking sounds to counteract sleep inertia. PLOS ONE. 2020; 15 (1):e0215788.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStuart McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. 2020. "Alarm tones, music and their elements: Analysis of reported waking sounds to counteract sleep inertia." PLOS ONE 15, no. 1: e0215788.
Honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus) are known for their capacity to learn arbitrary relations between colours, odours, and even numbers. However, it is not known whether bees can use temporal signals as cueing stimuli in a similar way during symbolic delayed matching-to-sample tasks. Honey bees potentially process temporal signals during foraging activities, but the extent to which they can use such information is unclear. Here we investigated if free-flying honey bees could use either illumination colour, or illumination duration, as potential context-setting cues to enable their subsequent decisions for a symbolic delayed matching-to-sample task. We found that bees could use the changing colour context of the illumination to complete the subsequent spatial vision task at a level significant from chance expectation, but could not use the duration of either a 1s or 3s light as a cueing stimulus. These findings suggest that bees cannot use temporal information as a cueing stimulus as efficiently as other signals such as colour, and is consistent with previous field observations suggesting a limited interval timing capacity in honey bees.
Leslie Ng; Jair E. Garcia; Adrian G. Dyer. Use of temporal and colour cueing in a symbolic delayed matching task by honey bees. Journal of Experimental Biology 2020, 1 .
AMA StyleLeslie Ng, Jair E. Garcia, Adrian G. Dyer. Use of temporal and colour cueing in a symbolic delayed matching task by honey bees. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2020; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLeslie Ng; Jair E. Garcia; Adrian G. Dyer. 2020. "Use of temporal and colour cueing in a symbolic delayed matching task by honey bees." Journal of Experimental Biology , no. : 1.
Innate colour preferences promote the capacity of pollinators to find flowers, although currently there is a paucity of data on how preferences apply to real flowers. The Australian sugarbag bee (Tetragonula carbonaria Sm.) has innate preferences for colours, including UV-absorbing white. Sugarbag bees are pollinators of the terrestrial orchid Caladenia carnea R.Br., which has both white and pink morphs. In laboratory conditions, we tested flower-naïve bees with the white and pink flower morphs revealing a significant preference for the white morph, consistent with experiments using artificial stimuli. In experiments to understand how bees may select food-deceptive orchids following habituation to a particular colour morph, we observed a significant increase in choices towards novel white flowers. We also observed that the presence of a UV-reflecting dorsal sepal signal significantly increased bee choices compared to flowers that had the UV signal blocked. Our findings demonstrate that innate preference testing of insect pollinators with artificial stimuli is replicated in a biologically significant scenario with flowers. The findings also underscore how food-deceptive orchids can receive sufficient pollinator visits to ensure pollination by having different morphs that draw on the innate preferences of bees and their ability to make decisions in a complex ecological setting.
Adrian G. Dyer; Skye Boyd-Gerny; Mani Shrestha; Jair E. Garcia; Casper J. Van Der Kooi; Bob B. M. Wong. Colour preferences of Tetragonula carbonaria Sm. stingless bees for colour morphs of the Australian native orchid Caladenia carnea. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 2019, 205, 347 -361.
AMA StyleAdrian G. Dyer, Skye Boyd-Gerny, Mani Shrestha, Jair E. Garcia, Casper J. Van Der Kooi, Bob B. M. Wong. Colour preferences of Tetragonula carbonaria Sm. stingless bees for colour morphs of the Australian native orchid Caladenia carnea. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. 2019; 205 (3):347-361.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAdrian G. Dyer; Skye Boyd-Gerny; Mani Shrestha; Jair E. Garcia; Casper J. Van Der Kooi; Bob B. M. Wong. 2019. "Colour preferences of Tetragonula carbonaria Sm. stingless bees for colour morphs of the Australian native orchid Caladenia carnea." Journal of Comparative Physiology A 205, no. 3: 347-361.
Sleep inertia is a potentially dangerous reduction in human alertness and occurs 0 – 4 hours after waking. The type of sound people set as their alarm for waking has been shown to reduce the effects of sleep inertia, however, the elemental musical factors that underpin these waking sounds and their relationship remain unclear. The goal of this research is to understand how a particular sound or music chosen to assist waking may counteract sleep inertia, and more specifically, what elements of these sounds may contribute to its reduction using a mix methods analysis. Through an anonymous, self-report online questionnaire, fifty participants (N = 50) reported attributes of their preferred waking sound, their feeling towards the waking sound, and symptoms of sleep inertia after waking. This data enabled the analysis and comparison between these responses to define statistically significant interactions. Our results show that there is no significant relationship between sleep inertia and the reported waking sound, nor the subject’s feeling towards this sound. However, we found that the melodicity of a chosen waking sound does effect sleep inertia. A sound that is perceived as melodic, produces less sleep inertia in comparison to a sound considered to be neutral (neither unmelodic nor melodic). Furthermore, a secondary analysis reveals that this is an important factor for waking stimulus design as it suggests that the amount of perceived rhythm will affect the perception of melody, and in turn, may influence the severity of sleep inertia on a secondary level. Our results reveal that the inclusion of detailed descriptive terms (musical elements) in addition to macro classifications (e.g. “pop music”) for stimulus testing would benefit future research and our understanding of waking audio’s effects on sleep inertia.
Stuart J. McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. Alarm tones, music and their elements: A mixed methods analysis of reported waking sounds for the prevention of sleep inertia. 2019, 607358 .
AMA StyleStuart J. McFarlane, Jair E. Garcia, Darrin S. Verhagen, Adrian G. Dyer. Alarm tones, music and their elements: A mixed methods analysis of reported waking sounds for the prevention of sleep inertia. . 2019; ():607358.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStuart J. McFarlane; Jair E. Garcia; Darrin S. Verhagen; Adrian G. Dyer. 2019. "Alarm tones, music and their elements: A mixed methods analysis of reported waking sounds for the prevention of sleep inertia." , no. : 607358.
Colour variation across climatic gradients is a common ecogeographical pattern; yet there is long-standing contention over underlying causes, particularly selection for thermal benefits. We tested the evolutionary association between climate gradients and reflectance of near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, which influence heat gain but are not visible to animals. We measured ultraviolet (UVA), visible (Vis) and NIR reflectance from calibrated images of 372 butterfly specimens from 60 populations (49 species, five families) spanning the Australian continent. Consistent with selection for thermal benefits, the association between climate and reflectance was stronger for NIR than UVA–Vis wavelengths. Furthermore, climate predicted reflectance of the thorax and basal wing, which are critical to thermoregulation; but it did not predict reflectance of the entire wing, which has a variable role in thermoregulation depending on basking behaviour. These results provide evidence that selection for thermal benefits has shaped the reflectance properties of butterflies.
Joshua T. Munro; Iliana Medina; Ken Walker; Adnan Moussalli; Michael R. Kearney; Adrian G. Dyer; Jair Garcia; Katrina J. Rankin; Devi Stuart-Fox. Climate is a strong predictor of near-infrared reflectance but a poor predictor of colour in butterflies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 2019, 286, 20190234 .
AMA StyleJoshua T. Munro, Iliana Medina, Ken Walker, Adnan Moussalli, Michael R. Kearney, Adrian G. Dyer, Jair Garcia, Katrina J. Rankin, Devi Stuart-Fox. Climate is a strong predictor of near-infrared reflectance but a poor predictor of colour in butterflies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 2019; 286 (1898):20190234.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJoshua T. Munro; Iliana Medina; Ken Walker; Adnan Moussalli; Michael R. Kearney; Adrian G. Dyer; Jair Garcia; Katrina J. Rankin; Devi Stuart-Fox. 2019. "Climate is a strong predictor of near-infrared reflectance but a poor predictor of colour in butterflies." Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 286, no. 1898: 20190234.
Many animals understand numbers at a basic level for use in essential tasks such as foraging, shoaling, and resource management. However, complex arithmetic operations, such as addition and subtraction, using symbols and/or labeling have only been demonstrated in a limited number of nonhuman vertebrates. We show that honeybees, with a miniature brain, can learn to use blue and yellow as symbolic representations for addition or subtraction. In a free-flying environment, individual bees used this information to solve unfamiliar problems involving adding or subtracting one element from a group of elements. This display of numerosity requires bees to acquire long-term rules and use short-term working memory. Given that honeybees and humans are separated by over 400 million years of evolution, our findings suggest that advanced numerical cognition may be more accessible to nonhuman animals than previously suspected.
Scarlett R. Howard; Aurore Avarguès-Weber; Jair E. Garcia; Andrew D. Greentree; Adrian G. Dyer. Numerical cognition in honeybees enables addition and subtraction. Science Advances 2019, 5, eaav0961 .
AMA StyleScarlett R. Howard, Aurore Avarguès-Weber, Jair E. Garcia, Andrew D. Greentree, Adrian G. Dyer. Numerical cognition in honeybees enables addition and subtraction. Science Advances. 2019; 5 (2):eaav0961.
Chicago/Turabian StyleScarlett R. Howard; Aurore Avarguès-Weber; Jair E. Garcia; Andrew D. Greentree; Adrian G. Dyer. 2019. "Numerical cognition in honeybees enables addition and subtraction." Science Advances 5, no. 2: eaav0961.
To monitor and quantify the changes in pollinator communities over time, it is important to have robust survey techniques of insect populations. Pan traps allow for the assessment of the relative insect abundance in an environment and have been promoted by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) as an efficient data collection methodology. It has been proposed that fluorescent pan traps are particularly useful, as it has been suggested that they capture high numbers of insects in an unbiased fashion. We use a simultaneous presentation of fluorescent and non-fluorescent pan trap colours to assess how flower-visiting insects of different orders respond to visual stimuli and reveal a significant interaction between trap fluorescence and captured insect type. In particular, Coleoptera (beetles) and Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) were captured significantly more frequently by fluorescent traps, whilst Dipterans (flies) were captured significantly less frequently by this type of pan trap. Hymenopterans (bees and wasps) showed no significant difference in their preference for fluorescent or non-fluorescent traps. Our results reveal that the use of fluorescent pan traps may differently bias insect capture rates when compared to the typical experience of colour flower-visiting insects in natural environments. Correction factors may, therefore, be required for interpreting insect pan trap data collected with different methodologies.
Mani Shrestha; Jair E. Garcia; Justin H. J. Chua; Scarlett R. Howard; Thomas Tscheulin; Alan Dorin; Anders Nielsen; Adrian G. Dyer. Fluorescent Pan Traps Affect the Capture Rate of Insect Orders in Different Ways. Insects 2019, 10, 40 .
AMA StyleMani Shrestha, Jair E. Garcia, Justin H. J. Chua, Scarlett R. Howard, Thomas Tscheulin, Alan Dorin, Anders Nielsen, Adrian G. Dyer. Fluorescent Pan Traps Affect the Capture Rate of Insect Orders in Different Ways. Insects. 2019; 10 (2):40.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMani Shrestha; Jair E. Garcia; Justin H. J. Chua; Scarlett R. Howard; Thomas Tscheulin; Alan Dorin; Anders Nielsen; Adrian G. Dyer. 2019. "Fluorescent Pan Traps Affect the Capture Rate of Insect Orders in Different Ways." Insects 10, no. 2: 40.
Orchids are a classic angiosperm model for understanding biotic pollination. We studied orchid species within two species‐rich herbaceous communities that are known to have either hymenopteran or dipteran insects as the dominant pollinators, in order to understand how flower colour relates to pollinator visual systems. We analysed features of the floral reflectance spectra that are significant to pollinator visual systems and used models of dipteran and hymenopteran colour vision to characterise the chromatic signals used by fly‐pollinated and bee‐pollinated orchid species. In contrast to bee‐pollinated flowers, fly‐pollinated flowers had distinctive points of rapid reflectance change at long wavelengths and a complete absence of such spectral features at short wavelengths. Fly‐pollinated flowers also had significantly more restricted loci than bee‐pollinated flowers in colour space models of fly and bee vision alike. Globally, bee‐pollinated flowers are known to have distinctive, consistent colour signals. Our findings of different signals for fly pollination is consistent with pollinator‐mediated selection on orchid species that results from the distinctive features of fly visual systems.
M. Shrestha; M. Burd; J. E. Garcia; A. Dorin; A. G. Dyer. Colour evolution within orchids depends on whether the pollinator is a bee or a fly. Plant Biology 2019, 21, 745 -752.
AMA StyleM. Shrestha, M. Burd, J. E. Garcia, A. Dorin, A. G. Dyer. Colour evolution within orchids depends on whether the pollinator is a bee or a fly. Plant Biology. 2019; 21 (4):745-752.
Chicago/Turabian StyleM. Shrestha; M. Burd; J. E. Garcia; A. Dorin; A. G. Dyer. 2019. "Colour evolution within orchids depends on whether the pollinator is a bee or a fly." Plant Biology 21, no. 4: 745-752.
Plant-pollinator interactions have a fundamental influence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far less is known about whether flower shape influences the choices of pollinators. We tested European honeybee Apis mellifera preferences using novel achromatic (gray-scale) images of 12 insect-pollinated and 12 bird-pollinated native Australian flowers in Germany; thus, avoiding influences of color, odor, or prior experience. Independent bees were tested with a number of parameterized images specifically designed to assess preferences for size, shape, brightness, or the number of flower-like shapes present in an image. We show that honeybees have a preference for visiting images of insect-pollinated flowers and such a preference is most-likely mediated by holistic information rather than by individual image parameters. Our results indicate angiosperms have evolved flower shapes which influence the choice behavior of important pollinators, and thus suggest spatial achromatic flower properties are an important part of visual signaling for plant-pollinator interactions.
Scarlett R Howard; Mani Shrestha; Juergen Schramme; Jair E Garcia; Aurore Avarguès-Weber; Andrew D Greentree; Adrian G Dyer. Honeybees prefer novel insect-pollinated flower shapes over bird-pollinated flower shapes. Current Zoology 2018, 65, 457 -465.
AMA StyleScarlett R Howard, Mani Shrestha, Juergen Schramme, Jair E Garcia, Aurore Avarguès-Weber, Andrew D Greentree, Adrian G Dyer. Honeybees prefer novel insect-pollinated flower shapes over bird-pollinated flower shapes. Current Zoology. 2018; 65 (4):457-465.
Chicago/Turabian StyleScarlett R Howard; Mani Shrestha; Juergen Schramme; Jair E Garcia; Aurore Avarguès-Weber; Andrew D Greentree; Adrian G Dyer. 2018. "Honeybees prefer novel insect-pollinated flower shapes over bird-pollinated flower shapes." Current Zoology 65, no. 4: 457-465.
Angle dependent colors, such as iridescence, are produced by structures present on flower petals changing their visual appearance. These colors have been proposed to act as signals for plant-insect communication. However, there is a paucity of behavioral data to allow for interpretations of how to classify these colors either as a signal or a cue when considering the natural conditions under which pollination occurs. We sampled flowers from 6 plant species across various viewpoints looking for changes in the visual appearance of the petals. Spectral characteristics were measured with different instruments to simulate both the spectral and spatial characteristics of honeybee's vision. We show the presence of color patches produced by angle dependent effects on the petals and the calyx of various species; however, the appearance of the angle dependent color patches significantly varies with viewpoint and would only be resolved by the insect eye at close distances. Behavior experiments with honeybees revealed that pollinators did not use angle dependent colors to drive behavior when presented with novel flower presentations. Results show that angle dependent colors do not comply with the requirements of a signal for plant-pollinator communication since the information transmitted by these colors would be unreliable for potential, free-flying pollination vectors. We thus classify angle dependent colors produced by micro- and ultra-structures as being a cue (a feature which has not evolved for communication), and observe no evidence supporting claims of these angle dependent colors having evolved as visual signal.
Jair E Garcia; Mani Shrestha; Scarlett R Howard; Phred Petersen; Adrian G Dyer. Signal or cue: the role of structural colors in flower pollination. Current Zoology 2018, 65, 467 -481.
AMA StyleJair E Garcia, Mani Shrestha, Scarlett R Howard, Phred Petersen, Adrian G Dyer. Signal or cue: the role of structural colors in flower pollination. Current Zoology. 2018; 65 (4):467-481.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJair E Garcia; Mani Shrestha; Scarlett R Howard; Phred Petersen; Adrian G Dyer. 2018. "Signal or cue: the role of structural colors in flower pollination." Current Zoology 65, no. 4: 467-481.
Color discrimination thresholds proposed by receptor-noise type models are frequently used in animal vision studies to predict a precise limit on the capacity of an animal to discriminate between stimuli. Honeybees and bumblebees are 2 closely related hymenopteran species for which precise data on photoreceptor sensitivities and receptor noise exist, enabling accurate testing on how their vision conforms to model predictions. Color vision has been proved in these species, and they are known to predominantly visit flowers using visual signals to collect nutrition. Surprisingly, however, the natural variability of flower signals has been rarely considered, and recent work also suggests bees may tune color vision through experience. We initially measured the spectral variability of flowers from 2 species: Goodenia ovata and Rosemarinus officinalis where free-flying honeybees were observed constantly foraging from conspecific flowers. We empirically determined honeybee color discrimination thresholds for color stimuli considering either absolute- or differential-conditioning discrimination functions. Secondly, we analyzed greenhouse grown wild-type Antirrhinum majus flower petal spectra as well as spectra from mixta and nivea strains of this species, and empirically determined bumblebee color discrimination considering conditioning experience. In all measured cases, within-flower type spectral variability exceeded a 1.0 Receptor Noise threshold, often by several units. Observed behavioral color discrimination functions considering the respective conditioning procedures closely matched the range of signal variability for both honeybees and bumblebees, showing that color vision in bees cannot be described by a single fixed value, and plasticity is a key component of bee foraging behavior in natural environments.
Jair E Garcia; Mani Shrestha; Adrian G Dyer. Flower signal variability overwhelms receptor-noise and requires plastic color learning in bees. Behavioral Ecology 2018, 1 .
AMA StyleJair E Garcia, Mani Shrestha, Adrian G Dyer. Flower signal variability overwhelms receptor-noise and requires plastic color learning in bees. Behavioral Ecology. 2018; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJair E Garcia; Mani Shrestha; Adrian G Dyer. 2018. "Flower signal variability overwhelms receptor-noise and requires plastic color learning in bees." Behavioral Ecology , no. : 1.