Do Bees Have Ears? Research Shows!

Bees can hear and detect vibrations using their legs and antennae. Bees create quietly buzzing noises whenever they walk on the ground or fly about. But do bees possess auditory organs?

 

Do Bees Have Ears?

Even though they do not have ears, bees can still hear. They do not rely on their ears to pick up on sound waves as humans do; rather, they use their entire bodies.

They can detect vibrations in their environment, which is a skill that is unique to them.

They can accomplish this with the assistance of a specialized form of an instrument known as Johnston’s Organ, which can pick up vibrations that are moving through the air.

One of the things that they found out was that they identify sounds in a way that is not dependent on detecting shifts in pressure. Instead, they can detect the motion of the particles.

It has been discovered that the beating of bee wings, which is a crucial aspect of their waggle dance communication, creates strong particle oscillation in the air but does not produce extremely large changes in pressure.

To demonstrate that bees are capable of hearing, the researchers used a training method in which they exposed the insects to a brief but moderate electric shock whenever they visited a feeder.

 

Read also: What Is the Structure of the Bee Antenna?

 

Can Bees Hear?

Bees do have the ability to hear, but not with their ears. They are unable to hear sounds because they lack eardrums, which are present in almost all other creatures.

They do not use microphones but rather pick up sound using vibration sensing.

Bees make use of a specific portion of their antennae known as Johnson’s organ, which may be located in the pedicel of each antenna.

The subgenual organs that are located in their legs are responsible for picking up sound vibrations.

A chordotonal organ, also known as Johnston’s Organ (JO), is a distinctive structure that can be found in arthropods, insects, and crustaceans.

These organs in insects contain sensory neurons that are positioned below the cuticle; these neurons can detect movement in various regions of the body.

 

What Is the Johnston’s Organ?

The JO is made up of sensory units that are referred to as scolopidia. Two to three neurons and a large number of support cells can be found in each of these units.

The vibration of the flagellum, which is the third segment of the antenna, is triggered when particles in the surrounding air move, which is the first step in the process.

The JO is responsible for converting the vibration of the flagellum concerning the pedicel into signals that excite the neurons. This process takes place after the JO has received the vibration.

After that, the information is transmitted to the brain so that further processing can take place there. It’s interesting to note that not all bees have the ability to hear sound. Only mature bees are capable of doing this.

Only worker bees that have reached the age where they can forage have neurons in the JO that have developed to the point where they can effectively sense flagellar vibrations.

 

Read also: Do Bees have lungs?

 

How Do Bees Communicate With their Environment If they Do Not Have Ears?

Bees can determine the source of a sound thanks to the anatomical characteristics of their bodies, which enable them to convert vibrations into electrical signals.

• Vibrations that are Carried in the Air

Vibrations that are carried by air are transferred via the air and into the substrate that they strike, such as the stem of a plant or the petal of a flower.

This enables bees to receive information about the world around them, which they can then utilize to direct them to their destination. The vibrations travel through the substrate and eventually make their way to the bee.

• Tactile Communication

When a bee communicates with another bee in the hive using only its antennae, eyes, and body language, this is known as Intra-Specific Communication.

Bees in the hive depend on this activity to find food, convey the location of flowers, and exchange directions to survive.

Antenna-to-antenna contact is common among bees. “Tactile communication” is a term for this type of exchange. To convey the location of the food supply, tactile communication is required.

Bees utilize their eyes and antennae to find the position of the blooms when searching for food. Tactile signals and vibrations, as well as dance, are some of the ways they transmit the location of food.

• Waggle Dance

Bees employ the Waggle Dance or “dance language” to communicate directions and distances from flowers. Bees returning after a successful foraging trip are the ones who perform this ritual.

The dance is performed on a hive’s vertical surface, such as a wall or the comb’s face.

• Substrate-Borne Vibration

They utilize it to navigate and interact with one another. Back in 1964, researchers made the discovery that bees utilized substrate-borne vibration as a sensory modality; nevertheless, it wasn’t until recently that this hypothesis was put to the test.

Since this sort of vibration has a greater propensity to travel further than airborne vibration, bees can interact with one another more effectively using this method.

 

Read also: Can Bees Sense Fear

 

Conclusion

Bees have developed the ability to exploit flowers as a resource, not only for honey and pollen like many other insects do but also as a source of information. This ability has allowed them to evolve more quickly than other insects.

By utilizing their ability to sense vibrations, they can determine the freshness of the bloom as well as whether or not it has been visited by another bee. S

Scientists refer to this phenomenon as “vibration signaling,” and one of the ways the bees achieve this is by sending a low hum into the bloom.

This behavior is analogous to how humans converse or sing. Because of this vibration, the petals of the flower begin to oscillate, which then causes an echo to be transmitted back to the bee.

Do bees have ears? well, now you know!

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