Fixed Thoracic Lead Tags Are Associated with Distinct Landing-Approach Trajectories in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera).
- 1Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.
- 2Vocational Teachers College, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.
- 3School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, China.
Abstract
Load carriage is common during honey bee foraging, but its effects on the final approach to the hive remain unclear. We recorded one three-dimensional landing trajectory from each of 80 returning Apis mellifera foragers carrying fixed lead tags of 0, 20, 40, or 60 mg attached externally to the dorsal thorax (n = 21, 22, 16, and 21, respectively) using three high-speed cameras. We calculated a discrete estimate of trajectory curvature, flight velocity, and vertical velocity. The 20, 40, and 60 mg loads represented approximately 25.69%, 51.37%, and 77.06% of the mean body mass of a separate reference sample (n = 60), respectively. Control and 20 mg honey bees generally flew more slowly along more curved paths than 40 and 60 mg honey bees. The 40 mg group had the highest average velocity and lowest average curvature. In the 60 mg group, velocity and curvature varied among recording zones. These results show that landing trajectories differed among load treatments. However, the experimental loads differed from natural nectar or pollen loads, and without measurements of wing kinematics or flight forces, the observed trajectory differences do not identify a specific flight-control mechanism.
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BibTeX
@article{he2026fixed,
title = {{Fixed Thoracic Lead Tags Are Associated with Distinct Landing-Approach Trajectories in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera).}},
author = {Yu-Zhu He and Hui-Dan Ouyang and Chang-Long Li and Ting-Song Lu and Li-Hui Wu and Hong-Ping Wu and Xun Zhong and Jin-Wu Zhang and Xu-Jiang He},
journal = {Animals : an open access journal from MDPI},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ani16193152},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883121},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Fixed Thoracic Lead Tags Are Associated with Distinct Landing-Approach Trajectories in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera).
AU - Yu-Zhu He
AU - Hui-Dan Ouyang
AU - Chang-Long Li
AU - Ting-Song Lu
AU - Li-Hui Wu
AU - Hong-Ping Wu
AU - Xun Zhong
AU - Jin-Wu Zhang
AU - Xu-Jiang He
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
DO - 10.3390/ani16193152
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883121
AB - Load carriage is common during honey bee foraging, but its effects on the final approach to the hive remain unclear. We recorded one three-dimensional landing trajectory from each of 80 returning Apis mellifera foragers carrying fixed lead tags of 0, 20, 40, or 60 mg attached externally to the dorsal thorax (n = 21, 22, 16, and 21, respectively) using three high-speed cameras. We calculated a discrete estimate of trajectory curvature, flight velocity, and vertical velocity. The 20, 40, and 60 mg loads represented approximately 25.69%, 51.37%, and 77.06% of the mean body mass of a separate reference sample (n = 60), respectively. Control and 20 mg honey bees generally flew more slowly along more curved paths than 40 and 60 mg honey bees. The 40 mg group had the highest average velocity and lowest average curvature. In the 60 mg group, velocity and curvature varied among recording zones. These results show that landing trajectories differed among load treatments. However, the experimental loads differed from natural nectar or pollen loads, and without measurements of wing kinematics or flight forces, the observed trajectory differences do not identify a specific flight-control mechanism.
SN - 2076-2615
ER -