PNB 2XC3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Synaptogenesis, Meadow Vole, Instinct
16 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Bumblebees feed on nectar and pollen from flowers. Therefore it is adaptive to have an innate tendency to fly to flowers for food. A typical bee habitat contains hundreds of plant species. Large variation is amounts of nectar and pollen in the species. Typically bloom only for a few weeks. Variation among flower species in time and space. An inexperienced bee cannot know which flower is the best one in its area. Innate tendency to visit little pink flowers would be non-adaptive if no such flowers bloom in the vicinity of the inexperienced bee. So the bee samples different species and learns which is the best flower. When there is strong association over many generations between a cue and environmental feature. When there is no persistent association over many generations between a cue and an environmental feature, but there iis such association over some portion of an individual"s life.
