Octopamine influences honey bee foraging preference.
Colony condition and differences in individual preferences influence forage type collected by bees. Physiological bases for the changing preferences of individual foragers are just beginning to be examined. Recently, for honey bees octopamine is shown to influence age at onset of foraging and probability of dance for rewards. However, octopamine has not been causally linked with foraging preference in the field. We tested the hypothesis that changes in octopamine may alter forage type (preference hypothesis). We treated identified foragers orally with octopamine or its immediate precursor, tyramine, or sucrose syrup (control). Octopamine-treated foragers switched type of material collected; control bees did not. Tyramine group results were not different from the control group. In addition, sugar concentrations of nectar collected by foragers after octopamine treatment were lower than before treatment, indicating change in preference. In contrast, before and after nectar concentrations for bees in the control group were similar. These results, taken together, support the preference hypothesis.
Giray
Tugrul
T
Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, PO Box 23360, San Juan, PR 00931, USA. tgiray2@yahoo.com
Galindo-Cardona
Alberto
A
Oskay
Devrim
D
D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D035264:Flowers / Q000469:parasitology; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009655:Octopamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012919:Social Behavior
D009655:Octopamine