https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Index ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:33271 Apis cerana F., the Asian honey bee, is far less known than that of its sister species Apis mellifera L. The arrival of A. cerana in North Queensland has prompted the need to better understand the ecology and biology of this species in an invasive context. We evaluated the colour, shape and spontaneous landing preferences of free flying A. cerana using artificial shape of equal surface. A. cerana displayed a stable and marked preference toward yellow regardless of the season (wet or dry). However, for other colours, different preference patterns were observed depending on the season suggesting a learned preference. Bees had a strong preference for star shaped U.V. nectar guides regardless of the season. Conversely to A. mellifera, A. cerana appeared to minimise the perimeter surface ratio in its landing choice choosing circular over jagged surfaces. However, when tested using polygons and circle of same area and thus very similar perimeters the choice pattern showed no minimisation of perimeter/surface ratio. Surprisingly, bees had a clear preference towards odd number apex shapes and 3/4 of landings occurring on the heptagon, despite the rarity of such 7-lobed flowers in nature.]]> Fri 21 Sep 2018 14:37:17 AEST ]]> https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:35553 Calyptorhynchus banksii), an Australian relative of the Goffin cockatoo (Cacatua goffini), using a food-finding task. Cockatoos were required to find a food item hidden in 1 of the 2 experimenter's hands. Following training sessions in which they reliably selected the closed baited hand they had just been shown open, each individual was tested on 4 different conditions. Critical to demonstrating exclusion reasoning was the condition in which they were shown the empty hand and then offered a choice of both closed hands. The performance of all birds was above chance on all experimental conditions but not on an olfactory and/or cuing control condition. The results suggest that the birds might be able to infer by exclusion, although an explanation based on rule learning cannot be excluded. This first experiment in red-tailed black cockatoo highlights the potential of this species as a model to study avian cognition and paves the pathway for future investigations.]]> Fri 03 Apr 2020 17:13:32 AEDT ]]>