Hi Bill and All

Sometimes I'm glad that I don't have a basement.  There is air space under
my floorboards though, and I have to admit that it gets smelly down there!

OK, you echoed a point made by others:

> In this "controversy" there seems to be little middle ground, where both
> the dance and odor are part of the whole. But that does make it
interesting.

Have to admit that I did declare myself, mischievously, to be a newly
converted dance language advocate, and maybe you didn't all spot the twinkle
in my eye.  But the lack of middle ground might be less real than it seems
in the heat of the debate.  I'm sure that Adrian will have met scientists
who have tried to claim that only dance language operates, but I haven't
seen anyone on here do so.

The two apparently polarised views seem to be:
i. the evidence says that it is all odour, though visual cues have a role
too, or
ii. the evidence says that the dance language can be important for long
range direction (and distance) finding by new recruits, but that odour and
visual cues are important for the final location.

The more extreme view (number iii. odour has no role) hasn't been expressed
by anyone here that I can recall.  The Riley paper which we've been
discussing didn't go for number iii either.

all the best

Gavin.

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