Chap. 30 



RED 



BOO 



ARTHROPODS INSECTS, SPIDERS, AND ALLIES 



COLOR VISION OF MAN AND HONEY BEE 



VIOLET 

 500 480 400 



619 



ORANGE YELLOW GREEN BLUE- BLUE 

 GREEN 



650 600 



550 



J/\. 



Human only/ 



/ 

 / 

 / 

 / 



/ 



/ 



650 



/ 



y 



Hunnan and bee 



/> 



COLORS AS ABOVE 



400 



ULTRAVIOLET 



300 



Bee and human 



Fig. 30.25. The colors of a spectrum to the human eye and to the eye of the 

 honeybee. For bees the visible spectrum is shortened in the red light but is ex- 

 tended in the ultraviolet. Apparently bees see only four qualities of color: yellow, 

 blue-green, blue, and ultraviolet. The numbers indicate the wave length of light 

 in millimicra (one micron = 1/25000 of an inch). (Based on data from von 

 Frisch: Bees. Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, 1950.) 



30.26). The criterion of visibility seems to be the amount of openness in the 

 pattern. It apparently gives a flickering impression as the bee flies past it just 

 as a picket fence looks to us as we ride past. 



Taste, Smell, and Touch. Honeybees can distinguish salt, sour, sweet, 

 and bitter. There are some sense organs of taste on the mouth parts though it 

 is not certain that they are all there. Butterflies have them on their feet. Honey- 

 bees are very sensitive to degrees of sweetness. They refused low percentages 

 of sugar in the experimental sugar waters. Conditions modify their choices. In 

 the spring blooming period they may refuse to collect nectar that is less than 

 40 per cent sugar, but in the fall when flowers are scarce, they will accept it 

 with sugar content as low as 5 per cent. Honeybees are keenly responsive to 

 odors. The sense organs of touch and smell are very close together on the first 

 eight distal segments of the antenna (Fig. 30.27). As bees explore flowers 

 they wave their antennae about and constantly touch certain parts of them. 

 In bees, smell and touch may work together just as we handle something in 

 order to see it better. 



Honeybees Broadcast News of Food. Workers perform the "round 

 dance" after they have collected food near the hive (Fig. 30.28). The worker 



