根据一项新的研究，大黄蜂(Bombus terrestris)可能是一个“小偷”。
据美国《科学》杂志在线新闻报道，蜜蜂通常都会飞到花中采蜜同时授粉。但也有一些蜜蜂会在花的底部咬出一个洞，之后只采集花蜜而不授粉。大黄蜂发现这些由其他蜜蜂咬出的洞之后，便重新叮咬这些洞，并偷走花蜜。研究人员在4月23日的英国《皇家学会学报B》（Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B）上报告了这一有趣的发现。（来源：科学时报 群芳）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
（Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B），doi：10.1098/rspb.2008.0270，Ellouise Leadbeater，Lars Chittka
Social transmission of nectar-robbing behaviour in bumble-bees
Ellouise Leadbeater, Lars Chittka
1 School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
Social transmission of acquired foraging techniques is rarely considered outside of a vertebrate context. Here, however, we show that nectar robbing by bumble-bees (Bombus terrestris)—an invertebrate behaviour of considerable ecological significance—has the potential to spread through a population at the accelerated rates typical of social transmission. Nectar robbing occurs when individuals either bite through the base of a flower to ‘steal’ nectar (primary robbing) or use robbing holes that others have made (secondary robbing). We found that experience of foraging from robbed flowers significantly promoted the development of primary robbing in previously legitimate foragers, thus implying that the acquisition of nectar robbing by one individual will facilitate its adoption in others. Our findings suggest that the positive feedback effects of social transmission may potentially play an ecologically important role in the relationship between plants and pollinators.
