scholarly journals Comparing the appetitive learning performance of six European honeybee subspecies in a common apiary

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricarda Scheiner ◽  
Kayun Lim ◽  
Marina D Meixner ◽  
Martin S Gabel
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Sugar Water ◽  
Appetitive Learning ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Differential Responsiveness ◽  
Honeybee Subspecies ◽  
European Honeybee ◽  
Sucrose Responsiveness

The Western honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is one of the most widespread insects with numerous subspecies in its native range. In how far adaptation to local habitats has affected the cognitive skills of the different subspecies is an intriguing question which we investigate in this study. Naturally mated queens of the following five subspecies from different parts of Europe were transferred to Southern Germany: A. m. iberiensis from Portugal, A. m. mellifera from Belgium, A. m. macedonica from Greece, A.m. ligustica from Italy and A. m. ruttneri from Malta. We also included the local subspecies A.m. carnica in our study. New colonies were built up in a common apiary where the respective queens were introduced. Worker offspring from the different subspecies was compared in classical olfactory learning performance using the proboscis extension response. Prior to conditioning we measured individual sucrose responsiveness to investigate whether possible differences in learning performances were due to a differential responsiveness to the sugar water reward. Most subspecies did not differ in their appetitive learning performance. However, foragers of the Iberian honeybee, A. m. iberiensis, performed significantly more poorly, despite having a similar sucrose responsiveness. We discuss possible causes for the low cognitive performance of the Iberian honeybees, which may have been shaped by adaptation to local habitat.

scholarly journals Comparing the Appetitive Learning Performance of Six European Honeybee Subspecies in a Common Apiary

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 768
Author(s):  
Ricarda Scheiner ◽  
Kayun Lim ◽  
Marina D. Meixner ◽  
Martin S. Gabel
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Sugar Water ◽  
Appetitive Learning ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Differential Responsiveness ◽  
Honeybee Subspecies ◽  
Sucrose Responsiveness

The Western honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is one of the most widespread insects with numerous subspecies in its native range. How far adaptation to local habitats has affected the cognitive skills of the different subspecies is an intriguing question that we investigate in this study. Naturally mated queens of the following five subspecies from different parts of Europe were transferred to Southern Germany: A. m. iberiensis from Portugal, A. m. mellifera from Belgium, A. m. macedonica from Greece, A. m. ligustica from Italy, and A. m. ruttneri from Malta. We also included the local subspecies A. m. carnica in our study. New colonies were built up in a common apiary where the respective queens were introduced. Worker offspring from the different subspecies were compared in classical olfactory learning performance using the proboscis extension response. Prior to conditioning, we measured individual sucrose responsiveness to investigate whether possible differences in learning performances were due to differential responsiveness to the sugar water reward. Most subspecies did not differ in their appetitive learning performance. However, foragers of the Iberian honeybee, A. m. iberiensis, performed significantly more poorly, despite having a similar sucrose responsiveness. We discuss possible causes for the poor performance of the Iberian honeybees, which may have been shaped by adaptation to the local habitat.

scholarly journals Exposure to a biopesticide interferes with sucrose responsiveness and learning in honey bees

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Carlesso ◽  
Stefania Smargiassi ◽  
Lara Sassoli ◽  
Federico Cappa ◽  
Rita Cervo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Main Determinant ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Chemical Pesticides ◽  
Careful Assessment ◽  
Sucrose Responsiveness

AbstractThe entomopathogenic fungus Beauveriabassiana is a widely used biopesticide that is considered as an effective alternative to classical agrochemicals. B. bassiana is thought to be safe for pollinators although little is known about its side-effects on pollinators’ behaviour and cognition. Here, we focused on honey bees and used the proboscis extension response (PER) protocol to assess whether B. bassiana affects individual sucrose responsiveness, non-associative and associative olfactory learning and memory. Fungus-treated bees displayed an enhanced sucrose responsiveness, which could not be explained by metabolic alterations. Strikingly, exposed bees were twice as inconsistent as controls in response to sucrose, showing PER to lower but not to higher sucrose concentrations. Exposed bees habituated less to sucrose and had a better acquisition performance in the conditioning phase than controls. Further, neither mid- nor long-term memory were affected by the fungus. As sucrose responsiveness is the main determinant of division of foraging labour, these changes might unsettle the numerical ratio between the sub-castes of foragers leading to suboptimal foraging. Although the use of biocontrol strategies should be preferred over chemical pesticides, careful assessment of their side-effects is crucial before claiming that they are safe for pollinators.

scholarly journals Olfactory Learning in the Stingless Bee Melipona eburnea Friese (Apidae: Meliponini)

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisol Amaya-Márquez ◽  
Sergio Tusso ◽  
Juan Hernández ◽  
Juan Darío Jiménez ◽  
Harrington Wells ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unconditioned Stimulus ◽  
Stingless Bees ◽  
Olfactory Learning ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Taste Receptors ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Adaptive Traits ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Cognition And Learning ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Olfactory learning and floral scents are co-adaptive traits in the plant–pollinator relationship. However, how scent relates to cognition and learning in the diverse group of Neotropical stingless bees is largely unknown. Here we evaluated the ability of Melipona eburnea to be conditioned to scent using the proboscis extension reflex (PER) protocol. Stingless bees did not show PER while harnessed but were able to be PER conditioned to scent when free-to-move in a mini-cage (fmPER). We evaluated the effect of: 1) unconditioned stimulus (US) reward, and 2) previous scent–reward associations on olfactory learning performance. When using unscented-US, PER-responses were low on day 1, but using scented-US reward the olfactory PER-response increased on day 1. On day 2 PER performance greatly increased in bees that previously had experienced the same odor and reward combination, while bees that experienced a different odor on day 2 showed poor olfactory learning. Bees showed higher olfactory PER conditioning to guava than to mango odor. The effect of the unconditioned stimulus reward was not a significant factor in the model on day 2. This indicates that olfactory learning performance can increase via either taste receptors or accumulated experience with the same odor. Our results have application in agriculture and pollination ecology.

The proboscis extension response

Honey Bees ◽  
2002 ◽  
pp. 67-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Pham-Del√®gue ◽  
A Decourtye
Keyword(s):  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Proboscis Extension

scholarly journals Behavioral responses of the invasive fly Philornis downsi to stimuli from bacteria and yeast in the laboratory and the field in the Galapagos Islands

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boaz Yuval ◽  
Paola Lahuatte ◽  
Arul J. Polpass ◽  
Charlotte Causton ◽  
Edouard Jurkevitch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Management ◽  
Gut Bacteria ◽  
Growth Media ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Galapagos Archipelago ◽  
Philornis Downsi ◽  
Baited Traps ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Bird Feces

AbstractPhilornis downsi (Diptera: Muscidae) is a nest parasitic fly that has invaded the Galapagos archipelago and exerts an onerous burden on populations of endemic land birds. As part of an ongoing effort to develop tools for the integrated management of this fly, our objective was to determine its long and short-range responses to bacterial and yeast cues associated with adult P. downsi. We hypothesized that the bacterial and yeast communities will elicit attraction at distance through volatiles, and appetitive responses upon contact. Accordingly, we amplified bacteria from guts of adult field-caught individuals and bird feces, and yeasts from fermenting papaya juice (a known attractant of P. downsi), on selective growth media, and assayed the response of flies to these microbes or their exudates. In the field, we baited traps with bacteria or yeast and monitored adult fly attraction. In the laboratory, we used the Proboscis Extension Response (PER) to determine the sensitivity of males and females to tarsal contact with bacteria or yeast. Long range trapping efforts yielded two female flies over 112 trap nights (one in extracts from bird faeces and one in extracts from gut bacteria from adult flies). In the laboratory, tarsal contact with bacterial stimuli from gut bacteria from adult flies elicited significantly more responses than did yeast stimuli. We discuss the significance of these findings in context with other studies in the field and identify targets for future work.

scholarly journals Behavioral Responses of the Invasive Fly Philornis downsi to Stimuli from Bacteria and Yeast in the Laboratory and the Field in the Galapagos Islands

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 431
Author(s):  
Boaz Yuval ◽  
Paola Lahuatte ◽  
Polpass Arul Jose ◽  
Charlotte E. Causton ◽  
Edouard Jurkevitch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Management ◽  
Growth Media ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Galapagos Archipelago ◽  
Philornis Downsi ◽  
Baited Traps ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Bird Feces

Philornis downsi Dodge and Aitken (Diptera: Muscidae) is an avian parasitic fly that has invaded the Galapagos archipelago and exerts an onerous burden on populations of endemic land birds. As part of an ongoing effort to develop tools for the integrated management of this fly, our objective was to determine its long- and short-range responses to bacterial and fungal cues associated with adult P. downsi. We hypothesized that the bacterial and fungal communities would elicit attraction at distance through volatiles, and appetitive responses upon contact. Accordingly, we amplified bacteria from guts of adult field-caught flies and from bird feces, and yeasts from fermenting papaya juice (a known attractant of P. downsi), on selective growth media, and assayed the response of flies to these microbes or their exudates. In the field, we baited traps with bacteria or yeast and monitored adult fly attraction. In the laboratory, we used the proboscis extension response (PER) to determine the sensitivity of males and females to tarsal contact with bacteria or yeast. Long range trapping efforts yielded two female flies over 112 trap-nights (attracted by bacteria from bird feces and from the gut of adult flies). In the laboratory, tarsal contact with stimuli from gut bacteria elicited significantly more responses than did yeast stimuli. We discuss the significance of these findings in context with other studies in the field and identify targets for future work.

In Situ Metabolomics of the Honeybee Brain: The Metabolism of l-Arginine through the Polyamine Pathway in the Proboscis Extension Response (PER)

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 832-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Pratavieira ◽  
Anally Ribeiro da Silva Menegasso ◽  
Thaisa Roat ◽  
Osmar Malaspina ◽  
Mario Sergio Palma
Keyword(s):  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Honeybee Brain
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