Data for the effect of optic flow cues on honeybee flight control in wind

To minimise the risk of colliding with the ground or other obstacles, flying animals need to control both their ground speed and ground height. This task is particularly challenging in wind, where head winds require an animal to increase its airspeed to maintain a constant ground speed and tail winds may generate negative airspeeds, rendering flight more difficult to control. In this study, we investigate how head and tail winds affect flight control in the honeybee Apis mellifera, which is known to rely on the pattern of visual motion generated across the eye – known as optic flow – to maintain constant ground speeds and heights. We find that, when provided with optic flow cues in both the longitudinal and transverse directions of flight, honeybees maintain a constant ground speed but fly lower in head winds and higher in tail winds, a response that is also observed when longitudinal optic flow cues are minimised. This change in height with wind does not appear to result in a constant ...