@phdthesis{Pahl2011, author = {Pahl, Mario}, title = {Honeybee Cognition: Aspects of Learning, Memory and Navigation in a Social Insect}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-66165}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Honeybees (Apis mellifera) forage on a great variety of plant species, navigate over large distances to crucial resources, and return to communicate the locations of food sources and potential new nest sites to nest mates using a symbolic dance language. In order to achieve this, honeybees have evolved a rich repertoire of adaptive behaviours, some of which were earlier believed to be restricted to vertebrates. In this thesis, I explore the mechanisms involved in honeybee learning, memory, numerical competence and navigation. The findings acquired in this thesis show that honeybees are not the simple reflex automats they were once believed to be. The level of sophistication I found in the bees' memory, their learning ability, their time sense, their numerical competence and their navigational abilities are surprisingly similar to the results obtained in comparable experiments with vertebrates. Thus, we should reconsider the notion that a bigger brain automatically indicates higher intelligence.}, subject = {Biene}, language = {en} }