Eusocial Bees

Juliana Rangel-Posada tends bees as part of her graduate research at Cornell University's Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. A researcher working on her doctorate in animal behavior, Rangel-Posada studies insect foraging biology with a particular focus on communication mechanisms that occur in all species of tropical stingless bees. Insects such as ants and bees are in a category scientists refer to as eusocial, meaning the animals evolved specialized behaviors to communicate the location, quality and abundance of resources. Some of these insects have evolved a wide variety of communications tools. The stingless bees share information about food locations using several mechanisms, from scent trails and beacons to dances and sounds. Researchers are still trying to determine what information is carried with each of these activities, and Rangel-Posada is working with advisors at Cornell to resolve those mysteries.

Credit: Juliana Rangel-Posada, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University