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> When insects feed on caffeine-spiked nectar, they get a beneficial buzz: they become much more likely to remember the scent of the flower. This sound very in
by runeks 12y ago
> When insects feed on caffeine-spiked nectar, they get a beneficial buzz: they become much more likely to remember the scent of the flower.
This sound very interesting. But has it been reproduced experimentally? I would be very interested in seeing the results of such an experiment, as I'm not sure this would happen (at least not if the animals live in the wild).
- a_bonobo 12y agoYes, just last year: >We provide evidence that plant compounds pharmacologically alter pollinator behavior by enhancing their memory of reward. Honeybees rewarded with caffeine, which occurs naturally in nectar of Coffea and Citrus species, were three times as likely to remember a learned floral scent as were honeybees rewarded with sucrose alone. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6124/1202.full http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6124/1202.full
- runeks 12y agoThanks for the reference! I can't access the article though, so I'll ask you: was this experiment conducted in the wild, or in a laboratory?
- icegreentea 12y agoTrained bees, so laboratory. On the side, it's always worth googling the paper in question and poking around a bit. This is at the top of google result for the paper title: http://phys.org/pdf287643238.pdf http://phys.org/pdf287643238.pdf