The waggle dances of honey bees provide information about the location of food sources and their quality. This study aimed to investigate how the quality of food sources affects different components of the dance. For the first time, we analysed in detail both the waggle phase and the return phase of the dance using a high-speed camera. The frequency of wing beats in the waggle phase and the frequency of wing-beating pulses in the return phase were significantly higher in foragers collecting more concentrated honey compared with foragers collecting less-concentrated honey, whereas the duration of the return phase was significantly shorter. Discriminant function analysis allowed correct classification of 88.1% of dances as referring to 60 or 40% honey concentration. In conclusion, information about the quality of food sources can be contained both in the waggle phase and in the return phase; however, the return phase appears to transfer more information about the quality of food sources.

中文翻译：

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食物来源质量对蜜蜂舞者翅膀跳动的影响

蜜蜂的摇摆舞提供了有关食物来源位置及其质量的信息。本研究旨在调查食物来源的质量如何影响舞蹈的不同组成部分。我们第一次使用高速摄像机详细分析了舞蹈的摆动阶段和返回阶段。与收集浓度较低蜂蜜的觅食者相比，收集更多浓度蜂蜜的觅食者在摆动阶段的翅膀拍动频率和返回阶段的翅膀拍动频率显着更高，而返回阶段的持续时间明显更短。判别函数分析允许将 88.1% 的舞蹈正确分类为 60% 或 40% 的蜂蜜浓度。综上所述，在摇摆阶段和返回阶段都可以包含有关食物来源质量的信息；然而，返回阶段似乎传递了更多关于食物来源质量的信息。