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Hagen, M., M. Wikelski, et al. (2011). "Space use of bumblebees
(<i>Bombus</i> spp.) revealed by radio-tracking." <u>PLoS ONE</u>
<b>6</b>(5): e19997.<br><br>
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<dd>Accurate estimates of movement behavior and distances travelled by
animals are difficult to obtain, especially for small-bodied insects
where transmitter weights have prevented the use of radio-tracking.<br>
<dd>Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we report the first
successful use of micro radio telemetry to track flight distances and
space use of bumblebees. Using ground surveys and Cessna overflights in a
Central European rural landscape mosaic we obtained maximum flight
distances of 2.5 km, 1.9 km and 1.3 km for Bombus terrestris (workers),
Bombus ruderatus (worker), and Bombus hortorum (young queens),
respectively. Bumblebee individuals used large areas (0.2553 ha) within
one or a few days. Habitat analyses of one B. hortorum queen at the
landscape scale indicated that gardens within villages were used more
often than expected from habitat availability. Detailed movement
trajectories of this individual revealed that prominent landscape
structures (e.g. trees) and flower patches were repeatedly visited.
However, we also observed long (i.e. >45 min) resting periods between
flights (B. hortorum) and differences in flower-handling between
bumblebees with and without transmitters (B. terrestris) suggesting that
the current weight of transmitters (200 mg) may still impose significant
energetic costs on the insects.<br>
<dd>Conclusions/Significance: Spatio-temporal movements of bumblebees can
now be tracked with telemetry methods. Our measured flight distances
exceed many previous estimates of bumblebee foraging ranges and suggest
that travelling long distances to food resources may be common. However,
even the smallest currently available transmitters still appear to
compromise flower handling performance and cause an increase in resting
behavior of bees. Future reductions of transmitter mass and size could
open up new avenues for quantifying landscape-scale space use of insect
pollinators and could provide novel insights into the behavior and
requirements of bumblebees during critical life stages, e.g. when
searching for mates, nest locations or hibernation sites.<br><br>
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