XVI International Botanical Congess

Animals make a subjective evaluation of information. Their subjective evaluation is directly used to decide among alternatives. A foraging bee uses its subjective evaluation of pollen and nectar to make choices among flowers and those choices affect plant mating and pollination effectiveness. I use the honey bees dance language and other behavior to quantify their evaluation of objective information. The evaluations of nectar and pollen are non-linear relationships with quality and quantity, and foraging costs are subjectively weighted in relation to gains. I link these evaluations with bees choices in uncertain environments where the amount or quality of food varies among flowers. Finally, I explore genotypic variation in bees subjective evaluations of pollen and nectar, and foraging behavior. Clarification of the decision-making process in insect pollinators is essential to understanding the evolution of patterns of floral morphology and the quality and quantity of nectar and pollen presented by entomophilous plants.