Broad presence of ferromagnetism in bees and relationship to phylogeny, natural history, and sociality.

Abstract

Scientists have long been fascinated by magnetoreception, the innate capacity of many animals to sense and use Earth's magnetic field for navigation. In eusocial insects like honey bees, magnetoreception has been linked to communication and foraging. However, little is known about magnetoreception's phylogenetic patterns and relationship to species traits and natural history. Here, we demonstrate that putative magnetoreception based on ferromagnetic particles is widespread across a diversity of bee species (74 of 96 species tested), with no phylogenetic signal. We also detected such putative magnetoreception in non-bee outgroups, suggesting that this magnetic capacity predates the evolution of the Anthophila. Although magnetic signals were found across a diversity of life history traits, the strength of the magnetic signal varied within and between species and increased with body size and social behavior.