Sarah Kraak, who also works at Berne, set out to prove this point experimentally.

ECONOMIST: Birds do it, bees do it | The

And, as Dr Kraak demonstrated, they are indeed being choosy.

ECONOMIST: Birds do it, bees do it | The

Indeed, Dr Kraak's analysis of the male's courtship dance is that it is designed as much to let him stop a female from laying in his nest before he has assessed her as it is to show himself off.

ECONOMIST: Birds do it, bees do it | The