Which of the following organisms perform waggle dance for others of their kin to indicate the direction and the distance to a source of their food?
- (a) Butterflies
- (b) Dragonflies
- (c) Honeybees ✓ UPSC's answer
- (d) Wasps
Why the answer is (c)
• Honeybees communicate the location of food through the 'waggle dance', decoded by Karl von Frisch, who won the 1973 Nobel Prize for the discovery.
• A returning forager runs a figure-of-eight on the comb: the angle of the straight 'waggle' run relative to vertical indicates the direction of the food relative to the sun, and the duration of the run indicates distance.
• The dance recruits hive-mates to rich sources of nectar and pollen and is one of the most sophisticated forms of symbolic communication in animals.
• Butterflies, dragonflies and wasps do not perform such a dance; wasps, though social, recruit through other cues.
• Hence option (c).
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) Butterflies
- Butterflies are solitary and do not communicate food locations.
- (b) Dragonflies
- Dragonflies are solitary predators with no such dance.
- (d) Wasps
- Wasps do not use the waggle dance.
Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2023, held on 28 May 2023. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.