Psychology

Professor Natalie Hempel de Ibarra

Professor Natalie Hempel de Ibarra

Associate Professor of Neuroethology

 N.Hempel@exeter.ac.uk

 4610

 Washington Singer 119

 

Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, Perry Road, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK

Overview

Co-Director of Postgraduate Research for Psychology

Research News:

Theme issue: ‘Understanding colour vision: molecular, physiological, neuronal and behavioural studies in arthropods’ in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 377(1862), compiled and edited by Ayse Yilmaz, Natalie Hempel de Ibarra and Almut Kelber (October 2022). Link

Paper: Hempel de Ibarra, N., Holtze, S., Bäucker, C., Sprau, P., & Vorobyev, M. (October 2022). The role of colour patterns for the recognition of flowers by bees. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 377(1862), 20210284. Link

Opinion essay:  Nicholls E, Rands SA, Botías C & Hempel de Ibarra, N. (June 2022). Flower sharing and pollinator health: a behavioural perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 377(1853), 20210157. Link

Review for the JEB 100 years of Discovery subject collection: Collett TS &, Hempel de Ibarra N (2023). An ‘instinct for learning’: the learning flights and walks of bees, wasps and ants from the 1850s to now. Journal of Experimental Biology, 226(6). Link

Review: Rands SA, Whitney HM & Hempel de Ibarra N (2023). Multimodal floral recognition by bumblebees. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 59, 101086.Link

ORCID: 0000-0002-0859-8217

Qualifications

PhD in Natural Sciences (Berlin)

Career

2014-18           Lead of the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour (CRAB), University of Exeter

2013/14           Visiting Professor, School of Advanced Sciences, The Graduate University for

                             Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Japan

2007-18            Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, Psychology, University of Exeter

2006-07           Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Associate Lecturer, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

2005-06           Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Life Sciences/CCNR, University of Sussex

2000-05           Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Associate Lecturer, Institute of Neurobiology, Freie 

                              Universität Berlin, Germany

Research group links

Back to top

Research

Research interests

  • Animal vision
  • Learning and memory
  • Active sensing
  • Sensory ecology / Neuroecology

Funding: BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust, NERC, UKIERI, Royal Society

Research projects

The Exeter Bee Lab

We study the behaviour, senses and cognition of social insects, with a focus on bees, for understanding how sensory information is processed, memorised and used in the context of foraging activities, spatial orientation and navigation.

Much of our work investigates learning and how bees are guided by sensory information that is available in their natural environment, such as colours, pattern and odours of flower displays as well as less salient cues such as floral humidity or temperature patterns.

We ask how bees locate and choose individual flowers and flower patches or other places that are important to them, such as their nest. For example, tracking the elaborate movements and viewing patterns during learning flights in bumblebees, we can uncover how insects actively acquire sensory information that guides them towards their nest or flowers.

We are also interested how stressors, pathogens and pesticides, affect their cognitive capabilities, foraging and navigation.

Linking the mechanistic understanding of the insect brain, nervous system, senses and cognition to ultimate questions, we aim to provide novel insights about pollinator-driven selection in the evolution of floral signals and plant-pollinator interactions.

Methods range from behavioural experiments and observations in the field and in the lab to physiological studies. We also specialise in recording photometric spectral data to model how insects behave under different illuminations and perceive the colours of flowers and objects.

Our main model species are the European honeybee Apis mellifera and the Buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris. We collaborate with H Somanathan (IISER Thiruvananthapuram, India) contributing to the study of the behaviour and ecology of honeybees and stingless bees in the Asian tropics.

Video abstracts / selected media coverage

The role of colour patterns for the recognition of flowers by bees (Hempel de Ibarra et al. 2022 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B) - covered amongst others by BBC News, PhysOrg

Large and small bees invest differently when learning about flowers (Frasnelli et al. 2021 Current Biology) Video abstract, covered amongst others by The Telegraph, Treehugger and in special feature  "Why These Bees Just Keep Staring at Flowers" SciShow on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqIPe3Ya8y0

"You're a bee. This is what it feels like." www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/02/science/bees-pollen-senses.html - By science journalist JoAnna Klein (NY Times, 2016), a special feature covering Beth Nicholls & Natalie Hempel de Ibarra's review paper Assessment of pollen rewards by foraging bees (2017, Functional Ecology). Our paper was also presented in media articles by Science Daily, Phys.Org, The Sun, Sciences et Avenir, amongst others.

Onset of morning activity in bumblebee foragers under natural low light conditions (Hall et al. 2021, Ecology & Evolution) - covered amongst others by The Independent, MSN News, bienen-nachrichten.de

Bumblebees can detect floral humidity (Harrap et al. 2021, Journal of Experimental Biology) - covered amongst others by JEB, Sciences Avenir, Sci News

Navigation and spatial learning:  CBC (Canada) Documentary by B. Mohun (2013) - Birds do it, bees do it and yes, we do it too   Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VdwesjObu8

Head movements during learning flights in bumblebees (Riabinina et al. 2014 J Exp Biol)  Video abstract

Learning flights in male bumblebees (Robert et al. 2017 J Exp Biol)  - covered amongst others by             

ITV, Science Daily, Phys Org, Express

Temperature patterns in flowers (Harrap et al. 2017) - covered amongst others by Science Daily, Daily Mail

Magpies do not like shiny objects (Shephard et al. 2015) - covered amongst others by BBC News, Guardian, Telegraph, Süddeutsche Zeitung, The Times, Audubon Magazin, Washington Post, Tagesspiegel, Bild der Wissenschaft, Stern

Back to top

Publications

Journal articles

Chapman KE, Smith MT, Gaston KJ, Hempel de Ibarra N (2024). Bumblebee nest departures under low light conditions at sunrise and sunset. Biol Lett, 20(4). Abstract.  Author URL.
Collett TS, Hempel de Ibarra N (2023). An 'instinct for learning': the learning flights and walks of bees, wasps and ants from the 1850s to now. The Journal of experimental biology, 226(6). Abstract.
Collett TS, Robert T, Frasnelli E, Philippides A, Hempel de Ibarra N (2023). How bumblebees coordinate path integration and body orientation at the start of their first learning flight. The Journal of experimental biology, 226(8). Abstract.
Rands SA, Whitney HM, Hempel de Ibarra N (2023). Multimodal floral recognition by bumblebees. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 59, 101086-101086.
Chapman KE, Cozma NE, Hodgkinson ABJ, English R, Gaston KJ, Hempel de Ibarra N (2022). Bumble bees exploit known sources but return with partial pollen loads when foraging under low evening light. Animal Behaviour, 194, 127-137.
Nicholls E, Rands SA, Botias C, Hempel De Ibarra N (2022). Flower sharing and pollinator health: a behavioural perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 377, 20210157-20210157. Abstract.
Yilmaz A, Hempel de Ibarra N, Kelber A (2022). High diversity of arthropod colour vision: from genes to ecology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 377(1862). Abstract.
Hempel de Ibarra N (2022). Insect navigation: Some memories like it hot. Current Biology, 32(2), R81-R84.
Gonzales D, Hempel de Ibarra N, Anderson K (2022). Remote Sensing of Floral Resources for Pollinators – New Horizons from Satellites to Drones. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10 Abstract.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Holtze S, Bäucker C, Sprau P, Vorobyev M (2022). The role of colour patterns for the recognition of flowers by bees. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Abstract.
Langridge KV, Wilke C, Riabinina O, Vorobyev M, Hempel de Ibarra N (2021). Approach Direction Prior to Landing Explains Patterns of Colour Learning in Bees. Frontiers in Physiology, 12 Abstract.
Harrap MJM, Hempel De Ibarra N, Knowles HD, Whitney HM, Rands SA (2021). Bumblebees can detect floral humidity. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 224 (12), jeb240861-jeb240861. Abstract.
Hall K, Robert T, Gaston KJ, Hempel de Ibarra N (2021). Onset of morning activity in bumblebee foragers under natural low light conditions. Ecology and Evolution, 11(11), 6536-6545. Abstract.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Rands S (2021). Pollination: Influencing bee behaviour with caffeine. Current Biology, 31(18), R1090-R1092.
Frasnelli E, Robert T, Chow PKY, Scales B, Gibson S, Manning N, Philippides AO, Collett TS, Hempel de Ibarra N (2021). Small and Large Bumblebees Invest Differently when Learning about Flowers. Current Biology, 31(5), 1058-1064.e3. Abstract.
Harrap MJM, Hempel de Ibarra N, Knowles HD, Whitney HM, Rands SA (2020). Floral Humidity in Flowering Plants: a Preliminary Survey. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11
Harrap MJM, Hempel de Ibarra N, Whitney HM, Rands SA (2020). Floral temperature patterns can function as floral guides. Arthropod-Plant Interactions, 14(2), 193-206. Abstract.
Nicholls E, Krishna S, Wright O, Stabler D, Krefft A, Somanathan H, Hempel de Ibarra N (2019). A matter of taste: the adverse effect of pollen compounds on the pre-ingestive gustatory experience of sugar solutions for honeybees. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 205(3), 333-346. Abstract.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Somanathan H (2019). How are pollinators guided by colourful floral structures? a commentary on: ‘The role of pollinator preference in the maintenance of pollen colour variation’. Annals of Botany, 123(6), iv-vi. Abstract.
Chow PKY, Lea S, Hempel de Ibarra N, Robert T (2019). Inhibitory control and memory in the search process for a modified problem in grey squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis. Animal Cognition, 22(5), 645-655. Abstract.
Balamurali GS, Nicholls E, Somanathan H, Hempel de Ibarra N (2018). A comparative analysis of colour preferences in temperate and tropical social bees. Science of Nature, 105(1-2). Abstract.
Langridge KV, Wilke C, Riabinina O, Vorobyev M, Hempel de Ibarra N (2018). Approach direction prior to landing explains patterns of colour learning in bees. bioRxiv
Harrap MJM, De Ibarra NH, Whitney HM, Rands SA (2018). Reporting of thermography parameters in biology: a systematic review of thermal imaging literature. Royal Society Open Science, 5(12). Abstract.
Frasnelli E, Hempel de Ibarra N, Stewart FJ (2018). The dominant role of visual motion cues in bumblebee flight control revealed through virtual reality. Frontiers in Physiology, 9, 1038 (1-11).
Potts R, Clarke RM, Oldfield SE, Wood LK, Hempel De Ibarra N, Cresswell JE (2018). The effect of dietary neonicotinoid pesticides on non-flight thermogenesis in worker bumble bees (Bombus terrestris). Journal of Insect Physiology, 104, 33-39.
Linander N, Dacke M, Baird E, Hempel de Ibarra N (2018). The role of spatial texture in visual control of bumblebee learning flights. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 204(8), 737-745. Abstract.
Robert T, Frasnelli E, Hempel de Ibarra N, Collett TS (2018). Variations on a theme: Bumblebee learning flights from the nest and from. flowers. Journal of Experimental Biology, 221(4), jeb172601 (1-15). Abstract.
Nicholls E, Hempel de Ibarra N (2017). Assessment of pollen rewards by foraging bees. Functional Ecology, 31(1), 76-87. Abstract.
Chow PKY, Lea SEG, Hempel de Ibarra N, Robert T (2017). How to stay perfect: the role of memory and behavioural traits in an experienced problem and a similar problem. Animal Cognition, 20(5), 941-952. Abstract.
Robert T, Frasnelli E, Collett TS, Hempel de Ibarra N (2017). Male bumblebees perform learning flights on leaving a flower but not when leaving their nest. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 220, 930-937. Abstract.
Harrap M, Rands S, Hempel de Ibarra N, Whitney H (2017). The diversity of floral temperature patterns, and their use by pollinators. eLife, 6 Abstract.
Collett TS, Philippides A, Hempel De Ibarra N (2016). Insect navigation: How do wasps get home?. Current Biology, 26(4), R166-R168. Abstract.
Nicholls EK, Ehrendreich D, De Ibarra NH (2015). Differences in color learning between pollen- and sucrose-rewarded bees. Communicative and Integrative Biology, 8(4), 1-4. Abstract.
Hempel De Ibarra N, Langridge KV, Vorobyev M (2015). More than colour attraction: behavioural functions of flower patterns. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 12, 64-70. Abstract.
Balamurali GS, Somanathan H, Hempel de Ibarra N (2015). Motion cues improve the performance of harnessed bees in a colour learning task. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 201(5), 505-511. Abstract.
Shephard TV, Lea SEG, Hempel de Ibarra N (2014). 'The thieving magpie'? No evidence for attraction to shiny objects. Animal Cognition Abstract.
Nicholls E, Hempel de Ibarra N (2014). Bees associate colour cues with differences in pollen rewards. J Exp Biol, 217, 2783-2788. Abstract.  Author URL.
Riabinina O, Hempel de Ibarra N, Philippides A, Collett TS (2014). Head movements and the optic flow generated during the learning flights of bumblebees. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 217, 2633-2642. Abstract.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Vorobyev M, Menzel R (2014). Mechanisms, functions and ecology of colour vision in the honeybee. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 200, 411-433. Abstract.
Davies TW, Bennie J, Inger R, Hempel de Ibarra N, Gaston KJ (2013). Artificial light pollution: are shifting spectral signatures changing the balance of species interactions?. Glob Chang Biol Abstract.  Author URL.
Philippides A, Hempel de Ibarra N, Riabinina O, Collett TS (2013). Bumblebee calligraphy: the design and control of flight motifs in the learning and return flights of Bombus terrestris. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 216, 1093-1104. Abstract.  Author URL.
Leboulle G, Niggebrügge C, Roessler R, Briscoe AD, Menzel R, Hempel de Ibarra N (2013). Characterisation of the RNA interference response against the long-wavelength receptor of the honeybee. Insect Biochem Mol Biol, 43(10), 959-969. Abstract.  Author URL.
Collett TS, Hempel de Ibarra N, Riabinina O, Philippides A (2013). Coordinating compass-based and nest-based flight directions during bumblebee learning and return flights. J Exp Biol, 216(Pt 6), 1105-1113. Abstract.  Author URL.
Nicholls EK, Hempel de Ibarra N (2013). Pollen elicits proboscis extension but does not reinforce PER learning in honeybees. Insects, 4(4), 542-557. Abstract.
Cresswell JE, Page CJ, Uygun MB, Holmbergh M, Li Y, Wheeler JG, Laycock I, Pook CJ, Hempel de Ibarra N, Smirnoff N, et al (2012). Differential sensitivity of honey bees and bumble bees to a dietary insecticide (imidacloprid). Zoology, 15, 365-371. Abstract.
Cresswell JE, Page CJ, Uygun MB, Holmbergh M, Li Y, Wheeler JG, Laycock I, Pook CJ, de Ibarra NH, Smirnoff N, et al (2012). Differential sensitivity of honey bees and bumble bees to a dietary insecticide (imidacloprid). Zoology
Linander N, Hempel de Ibarra N, Laska M (2012). Olfactory detectability of L-amino acids in the European honeybee (Apis mellifera). Chem Senses, 37(7), 631-638. Abstract.  Author URL.
Riabinina O, Hempel de Ibarra N, Howard L, Collett TS (2011). Do wood ants learn sequences of visual stimuli?. J Exp Biol(214), 2739-2748. Abstract.
Maloney LT, Hempel de Ibarra N (2010). Blackawton bees: commentary on Blackawton, P. S. et al. Biol Lett Abstract.
Niggebrügge C, Leboulle G, Menzel R, Komischke B, Hempel de Ibarra N (2009). Fast learning but coarse discrimination of colours in restrained honeybees. Journal of Experimental Biology, 212(9), 1344-1350. Abstract.  Author URL.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Vorobyev M (2009). Flower patterns are adapted for detection by bees. J Comp Physiol a Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol, 195(3), 319-323. Abstract.  Author URL.
Arnon R, Keasar T, Hempel de Ibarra N, Cohen D, Shmida A (2009). Learning of colored targets with vertical and horizontal components by bumblebees (Bombus terrestris L.). ISRAEL JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCES, 57(3), 193-201.  Author URL.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Philippides A, Riabinina O, Collett TS (2009). Preferred viewing directions of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris L.) when learning and approaching their nest site (vol 212, pg 3193, 2009). J EXP BIOL, 212(22), 3769-3769.
Baddeley B, Philippides A, Graham P, de Ibarra NH, Collett T, Husbands P (2009). What can be learnt from analysing insect orientation flights using probabilistic SLAM?. Biol Cybern, 101(3), 169-182. Abstract.  Author URL.
Krofczik S, Khojasteh, U. Hempel de Ibarra N, Menzel R (2008). Adaptation of microglomerular complexes in the honeybee mushroom body lip to manipulations of behavioral maturation and sensory experience. Developmental Neurobiology, 68(8), 1007-1017. Abstract.
Wertlen AM, Niggebrügge, C. Vorobyev, M. Hempel de Ibarra N (2008). Detection of patches of coloured disks by bees. Journal of Experimental Biology, 211, 2101-2104. Abstract.
Benitez-Veiyra S, Hempel de Ibarra N, Wertlen AM, Cocucci AA (2007). How to look like a mallow: evidence of floral mimicry between Turneraceae and Malvaceae. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 274(1623), 2239-2248. Abstract.
Brembs B, Hempel de Ibarra N (2006). Different parameters support generalization and discrimination learning in Drosophila at the flight simulator. Learning & Memory, 13(5), 629-637.
Collett TS, Graham P, Harris RA, Hempel de Ibarra N (2006). Navigational memories in ants and bees: Memory retrieval when selecting and following routes. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 36, 123-172.
Harris RA, Hempel de Ibarra N, Graham P, Collett TS (2005). Ant navigation: Priming of visual route memories. Nature, 438(7066).
Rodriguez I, Gumbert A, Hempel de Ibarra N, Kunze J, Giurfa M (2004). Symmetry is on the eye of the ‘beeholder’: Innate preference for bilateral symmetry in flower-naïve bumblebees. Naturwissenschaften, 91, 374-377.
Niggebrügge C, Hempel de Ibarra N (2003). Colour-dependent target. detection by bees. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, A, 189, 915-918.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Giurfa M (2003). Discrimination of closed coloured shapes by honeybees requires only contrast to the long wavelength receptor type. Animal Behaviour, 66(5), 903-910.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Giurfa M, Vorobyev M (2002). Discrimination of coloured patterns by honeybees through chromatic and achromatic cues. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 188(7), 503-512. Abstract.  Author URL.
Vorobyev M, Marshall J, Osorio D, Hempel de Ibarra N, Menzel R (2001). Colourful objects through animal eyes. Color Research and Application, 26, S214-S217. Abstract.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Giurfa M, Vorobyev M (2001). Detection of coloured pattern by honeybees through chromatic and achromatic cues. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 187, 215-224.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Vorobyev M, Brandt R, Giurfa M (2000). Detection of dim and bright colours by honeybees. Journal of Experimental Biology, 203, 3289-3298.
Vorobyev M, Hempel de Ibarra N, Brandt R, Giurfa M (1999). Do “white” and “green” look the same to a bee?. Naturwissenschaften, 86, 592-594.

Chapters

Hempel de Ibarra N, Vorobyev M (2023). Insect color vision. In Martin Usrey W, Murray Sherman S (Eds.) The Oxford Encyclopedia of Sensory Systems, Oxford University Press. Abstract.
Hempel de Ibarra N, Vorobyev M (2021). Insect Color Vision. In  (Ed) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, Oxford University Press (OUP).
Vorobyev M, Hempel de Ibarra N (2012). Honey bee vision in relation to flower patterns. In Galizia G, Eisenhardt D, Giurfa, M (Eds.) Honeybee Neurobiology and Behavior, Heidelberg: Springer, 285-301. Abstract.
Hempel de Ibarra N (2008). Colour vision in honeybees: behaviour, neural mechanisms and ecology. In  (Ed) Insect Mimetics, Tokyo, Japan: NTS Inc. 294-304.

Conferences

Hempel de Ibarra N (2016). How pollen affects learning in bees. 2016 International Congress of Entomology.

Back to top

External Engagement and Impact

Editorial responsibilities

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Frontiers in Insect Neurobiology, Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Zoology (Elsevier), Insects (MDPI)

Guest editor 2022/23: Current Opinion in Insect Science


Conferences and invited presentations

Selected contributions:

Chair of the Heiligenberg Travel Award selection committee, International Society for Neuroethology, 2019-2022

Symposium organiser, 15th International Congress on Neuroethology (ICN 2024)

Symposium organiser, XXVI International Congress of Entomology, 2020/22

Selected presentations:

Behaviour2023, Symposium Insect behavioural ecology: insights from the lab and field (organised by Julia Balogh (Frankfurt University) and Carolina Gomez Ramirez (Durham University)), 2023

Somerset Branch, British Beekeepers Association, 2023

5th International Conference on Invertebrate Vision, 2023

22nd Merav Ziv Symposium, Sede Boqer (organised by Yael Lubin (Ben Gurion University)), 2022

Symposium Agriculture and Cognition in Pollinators (organised by Vivek Nityananda (Newcastle University)), 2022

Symposium From flowers to landscapes: the natural processes influencing pollinator health  (organised by Phil Stevenson and Hauke Koch (Kew Gardens London)), 2021

2021 International Branch Meeting, Entomological Society of America, Session Plant-Insect interactions (organised by Julien Saguez (CÉROM) and Lieceng Zhu (Fayetteville State University)), 2021

Back to top

Teaching

Supervision of research projects in insect behaviour, cognition and neuroscience

UG Psychology - Psychology Research Project (PSY3401)

MSc Animal Behaviour - Research Apprehenticeship (PSYM210)

UG Natural Sciences - Interdisciplinary Research Project (NSC3001)

MSci Natural Sciences - Interdisciplinary Research Project (NSCM001)

Undergraduate modules

PSY3431 Comparative Approaches in the Study of Brain and Behaviour (seminar in comparative and behavioural neuroscience)

PSY1202  Introduction to Biological Psychology (lectures and practical on these course topics: foundations of neuroscience, learning and memory, senses and perception, human genetic variation)

Taught postgraduate modules

PSYM205 Advances and Methods in Animal Behaviour (module coordinator, seminar topics cover neuroethology, senses and perception and behavioural genetics)

PSYM208 Behavioural Science Methods (practical in animal learning and memory)

Modules

2023/24


Back to top

Supervision / Group

Postgraduate researchers

Back to top

Edit Profile