Pilocarpine improves recognition of nestmates in young honey bees.
Honey bees can distinguish nestmates from non-nestmates, directing aggressive responses toward non-nestmates and rarely attacking nestmates. Here we provide evidence that treatment with pilocarpine, a muscarinic agonist, significantly reduced the number of aggressive responses directed toward nestmates. By contrast, treatment with scopolamine, a muscarinic antagonist, significantly increased attacks on nestmates. Locomotor activity was not altered by these pharmacological treatments. When interpreted in light of known cholinergic pathways in the insect brain, our results provide the first evidence that cholinergic signaling via muscarinic receptors plays a role in olfaction-based social behavior in honey bees.
Ismail
Nyla
N
Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Christine
Stephanie
S
Robinson
Gene E
GE
Fahrbach
Susan E
SE
D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D010862:Pilocarpine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects*; D012601:Scopolamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D012919:Social Behavior
D018721:Muscarinic Agonists; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D010862:Pilocarpine; D012601:Scopolamine