Neotropical orchid bees (Euglossini) are often cited as classic examples of trapline-foragers with potentially extensive foraging ranges.
Rodents were also collected in a series of traplines, each of which contained 50 traps placed ≈10 m apart.
To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the optimization performance of traplining animals in the presence of resources that differ in profitability.
We found no significant difference between bees in the three experimental treatments (GLMs: number of routes used; χ2 = 1·66, P=0·436; usage frequency of the shortest possible route, F2,12 = 0·82, P=0·465; directionality of traplines, χ2 = 0·66, P=0·719).
To test whether bees rely on nearest-neighbour movements, we investigated the travel optimization performance of traplining bumble-bees faced with a multi-location routing problem in a flight cage.
Concomitantly, visiting the most rewarding flowers first might increase the competitiveness of traplining bees by increasing the probability to harvest large rewards before competitors (Paton & Carpenter 1984; Ohashi & Thomson 2005).
Research on trapline foraging by pollinators has traditionally focused on the adaptive value of this behavior, through optimal foraging models assuming that animals use hardwired movement rules (choices of movement distances or turning angle) as if they were continually exploring new habitats.
Well, Born Free USA's undercover trapping investigations, Victims of Vanity and Victims of Vanity II, will tell you all you need to know about the ethics of the American trapper, the brutality of the trapline, and the adherence to a strict code of ethics and the law.
Flower visitation sequences also suggest that the acquisition of short traplines could be facilitated by a consistent directionality of movements.
A precise measure of trapping effort, however, is necessary to relate environmental covariates, including habitat, to harvest at the scale of individual traplines.
Our results provide new perspectives to clarify the sequence of decisions made by pollinating insects during trapline foraging, and explore how spatial memory is organized in their small brains.
