Bees perceive illusory colours induced by movement. "Certain black-and-white patterns, when rotated at appropriate speeds, can create the artificial perception of hues. We report that this illusion is not confined to human vision, but is also perceived by an insect, the honeybee. The findings suggest that certain features underlying the processing of colour information are shared by man and bee." Bonus quotes from the main text: Freely-flying bees (Apis melrifera) were trained to discriminate between two visual stimuli presented in a horizontal plane immediately beneath the surface of a glass-topped table. One of the stimuli bore a reward of sugar water. The locations of the stimuli were interchanged frequently to prevent the bees from using position cues to identify the rewarded stimulus.
Related content: Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Want to make your Africanized honey bees more aggressive? Get ‘em drunk! Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: How dogs navigate to catch frisbees. Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Is that bee on crack? Oh, wait…it is. NCBI ROFL. Real articles. Funny subjects. Read our FAQ!
