Which of the following behaviors may be influenced by trail pheromones?

Trail pheromones play a significant role in foraging behavior among bees. These chemical signals are used primarily by forager bees to communicate the location of food sources to their fellow hive members. When a forager discovers a food source, it will deposit trail pheromones along the route back to the hive. This pheromone trail encourages other bees to follow it, facilitating the efficient gathering of food and maximizing foraging success for the colony.

By enhancing the ability of bees to locate and exploit resources, trail pheromones directly influence the foraging process, thereby impacting the overall food acquisition strategy of the hive. The collective effort sparked by these pheromones ensures that more bees can efficiently gather food while reducing the chances of the colony exhausting nearby resources.

In contrast, guarding the entrance relates more to pheromones used for marking territory and signaling alarm, while repelling other bees is typically associated with aggressive or defensive pheromones. Swarming behavior, too, involves different pheromones and dynamics, focusing on the reproductive aspect of the colony. Therefore, recognizing the unique function of trail pheromones distinctly points to their primary influence on foraging behaviors.