Discussion

The experiment conducted has shown that the color of a surface has a significant effect on the behavior of insects. Both the number of insects, their movement activity, and their dwell time were influenced by the color.

The blue plate generally attracted the highest number of insects, with the composition of the community being quite heterogeneous (SD 55.7).

However, the movement activity and dwell time remained moderate. Only certain insect species, such as bees and ants, spent significantly more time on blue plates. This could be related to specific foraging strategies or orientation mechanisms of Hymenoptera. A clear preference for plants whose flowers exhibit blue-green and blue colors has already been highlighted for bees and bumblebees in the past (Landeck 2002, Lunau 1997). However, the preferences seem to be less related to the specific color and more to the color purity (Lunau 1997).

In contrast, the floral pattern attracted a more moderate number of insects. These were more homogeneous in their species composition than those on the blue plate (SD 27.9). The average dwell time and general activity of the insects were lowest here. Since natural flower meadows are rarely monochrome, the active search for a food source within the plate area could certainly be attributed to a natural behavior. However, although the plate had high color heterogeneity and a pattern, this was not observed.

The yellow plates attracted the lowest total number of insects, but showed the highest movement activity and longest dwell times. The composition of the species community was the most homogeneous here (SD 12.5). Beetles and flies in particular seemed to find this color to be a particularly attractive wavelength, and they were particularly active here.

The plate color should be chosen depending on the research question in order to obtain usable photos of insects. For example, based on the previous analysis, a blue plate would be more suitable for measuring the pure number of individuals, while a yellow plate would be more efficient for an activity analysis of insects. For better recording and identification of individuals, however, they should stay on the plate for as long as possible.

This is because the longer the insects sit on the plate, the higher the probability that they will be recorded and identified as such by the camera, and the better the behavior of the insects can be observed.

The results of this project show that the dwell time of individual insects on the blue, yellow, and floral pattern color plates does not differ significantly from each other. However, when looking at the individual species, it is noticeable that there were significant differences in dwell time and activity on the respective colors. It was particularly striking that ants and bees stayed longer on the blue plates than on the other colors, but were also particularly active here. This activity can in turn impair the accuracy of the recordings, because the more they move, the more difficult it becomes for the camera to focus and generate sharp images. While a more powerful camera could be implemented to circumvent the problem, this would involve higher costs.

For future setups that focus on bees and ants and aim to analyze them for as long as possible, the color blue could therefore be relevant as an attractant.

Instead, for honeybees, a floral plate should be chosen for the longest possible dwell times, while yellow plates could be used for scorpionflies. Regarding dwell time in general, it can be concluded that a sensor box that wants to record insects should choose the shortest possible intervals between recordings, as most insects showed a rather short dwell time on the plates.

Overall, the experiment shows that color does indeed play a role in the behavior of insects. However, a deeper understanding of insect behavior requires considering many factors and their combination. Odors, textures, light intensity, temperature, and humidity can also contribute significantly to the overall picture. With the targeted arrangement of colors and other influencing factors, more efficient and targeted traps or attractants could be developed.