VISUAL TRACKING OF MOVING TARGETS BY FREELY FLYING HONEYBEES
自由飞行蜜蜂跟踪运动目标的研究

The ability of freely-flying honeybees to track moving targets was cxaminend.The results show that bees are perfectly capable of tracking moving targets and landing on them. When the distance of the target is greater than ca. 15 cm, approaching bees correct for angular deviations of the target from the midline, both in the horizontal and in the vertical plane. In either plane, the input variables that are important to the tracking system seem to be (i) the angular bearing of the target with respect to the midline, and (ii) the angular velocity of the target with respect to the eye, The control system tends to orient the bee such that the target is located frontly, at an angle of ca.40 deg below the equator.The choromatic properties of tracking behaviour were investigated. The results of these experiments suggest that; in contolling tracking, the measurement of the angular velocity of the target is derived almost exclusively from the green-sensitive receptors, as is the case with previously btudied movement-sensitive behaviours. However; the measurement of the angular bearing of the target is derived from the blue-sensitive receptors as well as the green-sensitive ones.When the target distance is lower than ca.15 cm, approaching bees use translational manoeuvres, in addition to rotational ones; track the moving target. Translational target tracking appears to be driven primarily by signals from the green-sensitive receptors.