Trap-lining

For the spider web structure, see Trap line (spiders). For the human hunting technique, see trapline.
Long-billed hermit (Phaethornis longirostris baroni), a species of traplining hummingbird adapted for flying long distances
Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), a species of territorial hummingbird, is more robust than traplining species

In ethology and behavioral ecology, trap-lining or traplining is a feeding strategy in which an individual visits food sources on a regular, repeatable sequence, much as trappers check their lines of traps.[1] Traplining is usually seen in species foraging for floral resources.[2] This involves a specified route in which the individual traverses in the same order repeatedly to check specific plants for flowers that hold nectar, even over long distances. Trap-lining has been described in several taxa, including bees, butterflies, tamarins, bats, rats, and hummingbirds and tropical fruit-eating mammals such as opossums, capuchins and kinkajous.[1][3] Traplining is used to term the method in which bumblebees and hummingbirds go about collecting nectar, and consequently, pollinating each plant they visit. The term "traplining" was originally coined by Daniel Janzen,[4] although the concept was discussed by Charles Darwin and Nikolaas Tinbergen.[4]

  1. ^ a b Sahel, Nehal; Chittka, Lars (2007). "Traplining in bumblebees ( Bombus impatiens ): a foraging strategy's ontogeny and the importance of spatial reference memory in short-range foraging". Oecologia. 151 (4): 719–730. doi:10.1007/s00442-006-0607-9. PMID 17136553.
  2. ^ Ohashi, Kazuharu; Thomson, James D. (2013). "Trapline foraging by bumblebees: VI. Behavioral alterations under speed-accuracy trade-offs". Behavioral Ecology. 24 (1): 182–189. doi:10.1093/beheco/ars152. hdl:2241/121336.
  3. ^ Kays, Roland; Rodriguez, M. Elizabeth; Valencia, Lina Maria; Horan, Robert; Smith, Adam R.; Zeigler, Christian (2012). "Animal Visitation and Pollination of Flowering Balsa Trees. ( Ochroma pyramidale ) in panama". Mesoamericana. 16 (3): 56–70.
  4. ^ a b Thomson, James D.; Slatkin, Montgomery; Thomson, Barbara A. (1997). "Trapline foraging by bumble bees: II . Definition and detection from sequence data". Behavioral Ecology. 8 (2): 199–210. doi:10.1093/beheco/8.2.199.