Abstract
Bees derived from artificially selected high-and low-pollen-hoarding strains were tested for their proboscis extension reflex response to water and varying sucrose concentrations. High-strain bees had a lower response threshold to sucrose than low-strain bees among pre-foragers, foragers, queens and drones. Preforaging low-strain workers showed ontogenetic changes in their response threshold to sucrose which was inversely related to age. High-strain foragers were more likely to return with loads of water compared to low-strain foragers. Whereas low-strain foragers were more likely to return with loads of nectar. Low-strain nectar foragers collected nectar with significantly higher sucrose concentrations than did the high-strain nectar foragers. Alternatively, low-strain foragers were more likely to return empty compared to high-strain foragers. These studies demonstrate how a genotypically varied sensory-physiological process, the perception of sucrose, are associated with a division of labor for foraging.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 207-213 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology |
Volume | 185 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 1999 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Behavior
- Development
- Foraging
- Honey bee
- Neurobiology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Physiology
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Behavioral Neuroscience