Displacement activities during the honeybee transition from waggle dance to foraging

Displacement activities, which are typically locomotory, grooming and object-manipulation behaviours, have been shown to reduce stress. However, their function within the motivational system remains unclear. I tested the hypothesis that displacement activities have a functional role during transitions between motivational states, using the honeybee model system. I observed a number of locomotory and grooming behaviours performed when foraging honeybees returned to the hive to dance. These focal behaviours occurred significantly more frequently during the period of transition from waggle dancing to exiting the hive to forage than during the periods before the waggle dance or during the waggle dance. By contrast, the control behaviour, trophallaxis, was distributed across time periods significantly differently, occurring with equal frequency in all periods. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that displacement activities have a functional role during motivational transitions. Evidence from other species suggests that the most likely function is facilitation, rather than inhibition, of the transition. The wide range of species in which displacement activities have been identified suggests that they are a universal feature of motivational control.