Response thresholds to sucrose predict foraging division of labor in honeybees |
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Authors: | T Pankiw RE Page Jr |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA e-mail: tpankiw@ucdavis.edu Tel: +1-530-7525456, Fax: +1-530-7521537, US |
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Abstract: | Division of labor, where thousands of individuals perform specific behavioral acts repeatedly and non-randomly, is the hallmark
of insect societies. Virtually nothing is known about the underlying neurophysiological processes that direct individuals
into specific behavioral roles. We demonstrate that sensory-physiological variation in the perception of sucrose in honeybees
measured when they are 1 week old correlates with their foraging behavior 2–3 weeks later. Workers with the lowest response
thresholds became water foragers, followed with increasing response thresholds by pollen foragers, nectar foragers, bees collecting
both pollen and nectar, and finally those returning to the colony empty (water<pollen<nectar<both<empty). Sucrose concentrations
of nectar loads were positively correlated with response thresholds measured on 1-week-old bees. These results demonstrated
how the variable response thresholds of a sensory-physiological process, the perception of sucrose, is causally linked to
the division of labor of foraging.
Received. 28 June 1999 / Received in revised form: 2 November 1999 / Accepted: 20 November 1999 |
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Keywords: | Honeybee Behavior Foraging Response thresholds Neuroethology |
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