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Perception by flower visitors
Flower visitors such as insects and bats detect floral scent thanks to chemoreceptors of variable specificity to a specific VOC. The fixation of a VOC on a chemoreceptor triggers the activation of an antennal glomerulus, further projecting on an olfactory receptor neuron and finally triggering a behavioral response after processing of the information (see also  Olfaction, Insect olfaction). The simultaneous perception of various VOCs may cause the activation of several glomeruli, but the output signal may not be additive due to synergistic or antagonistic mechanisms linked with inter-neuronal activity.[5] Therefore, the perception of a VOC within a floral blend may trigger a different behavioral response than when perceived isolated. Similarly, the output signal is not proportional to the amount of VOCs, with some VOCs in low amount in the floral blend having major effects on pollinator behavior. A good characterization of floral scent, both qualitative and quantitative, is necessary to understand and potentially predict flower visitors' behaviour.

Flower visitors use floral scent to detect, recognize and locate their host species, and even to discriminate among flowers of the same plant.[6] This is made possible by the high specificity of floral scent, where both the diversity of VOCs and their relative amount may characterize the flowering species, an individual plant, a flower of the individual plant, and the distance of the plume from the source.

To make the best use of this specific information, flower visitors rely on long-term and short-term memory that allow them to efficiently choose their flower.[7] They learn to associate the floral scent of a plant to a reward such as nectar and pollen,[8] and have different behavioral responses to known scents versus unknown ones.[9] They are also able to react similarly to slightly different odor blends.[10]

A recently conducted investigation that was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology investigated whether learned olfactory cues can trigger visual and navigational memories in honeybees. Visual and navigational memories assists bees in navigating back to a known food source, as well as back to the hive. The experiments involved marked bees being trained to forage at one or more sugar water feeders. Bees were placed at different outdoor locations that carried different scents or colors. This tested the ability of these bees to recall the locations or colors of these food site, fly to them when the training scents were blown into the hive, then fly to site when scents and food at the feeders were removed. The results showed three important skills that bees have. Bees, trained to fly to a single-scented feeder at a specific location, can be induced to fly to the same location by blowing the scent into the hive. Bees, trained to two feeders, each placed at a different location and carrying a different scent, can be induced to fly to either location by blowing the respective scent into the hive. Bees, trained to two feeders, each decorated with a different color and carrying a different scent, can be induced to find a feeder of either color by blowing the respective scent into the hive. Therefore, familiar scents can be connected to navigational and visual memories in experienced bees. Findings suggest that the specific scent and taste of the nectar samples distributed by successful foragers, may trigger recall of navigational memories associated with the food site in experienced recruits and facilitate their navigation back to the site.