Shining a light on bumblebee foraging strategies: bumblebee species niche partitioning is related to visual sensory traits
Local coexistence of bees has been explained by flower resource partitioning, but coexisting bumblebee species often have strongly overlapping diets. We investigated if light microhabitat niche separation, underpinned by visual traits, could serve as an alternative mechanism underlying local coexistence of bumblebee species. To this end, we focused on a homogeneous flower resource—bilberry—in a he
