Artificial Meadows And Robot Spiders Reveal Secret Life Of Bees

Many animals learn to avoid being eaten by predators. Now ecologists have discovered that bumblebees can even learn to outwit colour-changing crab spiders.

Bumblebees learn to avoid camouflaged predators by sacrificing foraging speed for predator detection, according to scientists from Queen Mary, University of London.

One of the bumblebee’s main predators is the crab spider. Crab spiders hunt pollinating insects like bees and butterflies by lying in wait on flowers, and are particularly difficult for their prey to spot because they can change their colour to blend in with their surroundings.

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Tagged as: Animals, Bees, Bumblebees, Butterflies, Camouflage, Crab Spiders, Ecologists, Insects, Pollinating Insects, Predators

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