2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
SEMIOCHEMICALS INDUCING SOCIAL BEHAVIORS IN HONEYBEES
| Project/Area Number |
16510173
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Living organism molecular science
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| Research Institution | Foundation for Advancement of International Science |
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Principal Investigator |
SASAGAWA Hiromi Foundation for Advancement of International Science, 研究開発部, RESEARCHER (80211936)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MATSUYAMA Shigeru UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, LECTURER (30239131)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | Honeybee / Apis cerana japonica RAD. / Apis mellifera L. / Varra mites / allo-grooming behaviour / Social insect / Social behavior / Chemical ecology |
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| Research Abstract |
"SEMIOCHEMICALS INDUCING SOCIAL BEHAVIORS IN HONEYBEES"
Social behaviors in honey bees can serve as models for investigating recognition and communications among intra- and interspecies as well as those towards environmental conditions. In response to the stimuli, individuals recognize the environmental conditions surrounding the colony. Semiochemicals play crucial roles in recognition and pheromones do in communication. Individual recognition and communications among colony members would lead to wide variety of social behaviors. Therefore understanding the basic mechanisms of social behaviors attracts attentions of researchers in the field of micro machines and brain sciences. How the flexibility of the honey bee colony arises, is one of the most attractive issues in our research. In this paper, aquisition and development in behavioral repertory between these two honey bees were investigated in connection with differences in recognition and responses to semiochemicals. In Japan, there are two Apis species, domestic honey bee (Apis cerana japonica Rad.; Acj) and imported honey bee, Apis mellifera L.(Am). There are behavioral differences between the two species. For example, Am collect Propolis but Acj does not. Acj performs hygienic allo-grooming behavior against Varroa mites but Am seldom does it. When Acj workers with different ages (0, 7, 14, 17days after eclosion) were exposed to Varroa mite extract, day 0 workers did not respond (0%), however 7days and older workers responded (100%). It was observed that the older workers responded more quickly and persistently upon exposure to the extract. Therefore, all-grooming behavior in Acj develops in accordance with the age after eclosion. Development of allo-grooming behaviour in Acj may be under hormonal control as is age-polyethism.
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Research Products
(4 results)
