Trap-lining

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. Traplining is usually seen in species foraging for floral resources. 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 (sing. taxon), including bees, butterflies, tamarins, bats, rats, and hummingbirds and tropical fruit-eating mammals such as opossums, capuchins and kinkajous. 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, although the concept was discussed by Charles Darwin and Nikolaas Tinbergen.

In the instance of hummingbirds and bumblebees, traplining is an evolutionary response to the allocation of resources between species. Specifically, individual hummingbirds form their own specific routes in order to minimize competition and maximize nutrient availability. Some hummingbird species are territorial (e.g. rufous hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus,) and defend a specific territory, while others are trapliners (i.e. Long-billed hermit, Phaethornis longirostris) and constantly check different locations for food. Because of this, territorial hummingbirds will be more robust, while traplining hummingbirds have adaptations such as longer wings for more efficient flying. Traplining hummingbirds will move from source to source, obtaining nectar from each. Over time, one hummingbird will be the primary visitor to a particular source. In the case of bumblebees, when competitors are removed, there is an influx to the removal area and less time is spent traplining over long distances. This demonstrates the ability to behaviorally adapt based on surrounding competition. In addition, bumblebees use traplining to distinguish between high nectar-producing flowers and low-nectar producing flowers by consistently recognizing and visiting those that produce higher levels. Other types of bees, such as with euglossine bees (i.e. Euglossa imperialis) use traplining to forage efficiently by flying rapidly from one precise flowering plant to the next in a set circuit, even ignoring newly blooming plants which are adjacent, but outside, of its daily route. By doing so, these euglossine bees significantly reduce the amount of time and energy spent searching for nectar each day. In general, it is seen that traplining species have higher nutritional rewards than non-traplining species.

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