The bee Tetragonula builds its comb like a crystal.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Silvana S S CardosoC Ignacio Sainz-Díaz

Abstract

Stingless bees of the genus Tetragonula construct a brood comb with a spiral or a target pattern architecture in three dimensions. Crystals possess these same patterns on the molecular scale. Here, we show that the same excitable-medium dynamics governs both crystal nucleation and growth and comb construction in Tetragonula, so that a minimal coupled-map lattice model based on crystal growth explains how these bees produce the structures seen in their bee combs.

References

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