The effect of genotype, age, sex, and caste on response thresholds to sucrose and foraging behavior of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.).
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. Pre-foraging 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.
Pankiw
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Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis 95616, USA. tpankiw@ucdavis.edu
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D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D004056:Differential Threshold; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D011058:Pollen; D012018:Reflex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012996:Solutions; D013395:Sucrose / Q000494:pharmacology*
D012996:Solutions; D013395:Sucrose