Honey bees show individual variability in their social behavior, a study finds. The duration of interactions is a fundamental measure of the collective nature of social organisms and can vary across individuals. Using high-throughput image capture and computer analysis, Nigel Goldenfeld and colleagues measured the duration of food-transfer and other face-to-face interactions between thousands of honey bees in a colony over the bees' lifetimes. The duration of interactions showed a heavy-tailed distribution, similar to previously reported durations of human face-to-face interactions. Theoretical work revealed that the origin of this cross-species universality was individual variability in social interactions. Next, the authors analyzed the total interaction time spent by each individual, the total number of interactions in which each individual engaged, and the total number of partners with which each individual interacted. The analysis revealed that genetically related bees exhibit fewer individual differences than do humans. Nevertheless, the bees exhibit some individuality, such that some bees are more likely to interact and engage in food sharing than others. According to the authors, individual differences can lead to universal patterns of behavior that transcend species, context, and specific mechanisms for social interactions.
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Article #20-02013: "Individual variations lead to universal and cross-species patterns of social behavior," by Sang Hyun Choi et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Nigel Goldenfeld, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL; tel: 217-333-8027; e-mail: <nigel@illinois.edu>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences