Individual Learning Phenotypes Drive Collective Behavior

Authors

Chelsea N. Cook, Marquette University
Natalie J. Lemanski, University of California - Los Angeles
Thiago Mosqueiro, University of California - Los Angeles
Cahit Ozturk, Arizona State University - Tempe
Jürgen Gadau, University of Münster
Noa Pinter-Wollman, University of California - Los Angeles
Brian H. Smith, Arizona State University - Tempe

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Publication Date

7-28-2020

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences

Source Publication

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Source ISSN

0027-8424

Abstract

Individual differences in learning can influence how animals respond to and communicate about their environment, which may nonlinearly shape how a social group accomplishes a collective task. There are few empirical examples of how differences in collective dynamics emerge from variation among individuals in cognition. Here, we use a naturally variable and heritable learning behavior called latent inhibition (LI) to show that interactions among individuals that differ in this cognitive ability drive collective foraging behavior in honey bee colonies. We artificially selected two distinct phenotypes: high-LI bees that ignore previously familiar stimuli in favor of novel ones and low-LI bees that learn familiar and novel stimuli equally well. We then provided colonies differentially composed of different ratios of these phenotypes with a choice between familiar and novel feeders. Colonies of predominantly high-LI individuals preferred to visit familiar food locations, while low-LI colonies visited novel and familiar food locations equally. Interestingly, in colonies of mixed learning phenotypes, the low-LI individuals showed a preference to visiting familiar feeders, which contrasts with their behavior when in a uniform low-LI group. We show that the shift in feeder preference of low-LI bees is driven by foragers of the high-LI phenotype dancing more intensely and attracting more followers. Our results reveal that cognitive abilities of individuals and their social interactions, which we argue relate to differences in attention, drive emergent collective outcomes.

Comments

Accepted version. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 117, No. 30 (July 28, 2020): 17949-17956. DOI. © 2020 National Academy of Sciences. Used with permission.

Recommended Citation

Cook, Chelsea N.; Lemanski, Natalie J.; Mosqueiro, Thiago; Ozturk, Cahit; Gadau, Jürgen; Pinter-Wollman, Noa; and Smith, Brian H., "Individual Learning Phenotypes Drive Collective Behavior" (2020). Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications. 815.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/bio_fac/815