Mechanisms of thermal stability during flight in the honeybee apis mellifera

1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (11) ◽  
pp. 1523-1533 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P. Roberts ◽  
J.F. Harrison

Thermoregulation of the thorax allows honeybees (Apis mellifera) to maintain the flight muscle temperatures necessary to meet the power requirements for flight and to remain active outside the hive across a wide range of air temperatures (Ta). To determine the heat-exchange pathways through which flying honeybees achieve thermal stability, we measured body temperatures and rates of carbon dioxide production and water vapor loss between Ta values of 21 and 45 degrees C for honeybees flying in a respirometry chamber. Body temperatures were not significantly affected by continuous flight duration in the respirometer, indicating that flying bees were at thermal equilibrium. Thorax temperatures (Tth) during flight were relatively stable, with a slope of Tth on Ta of 0.39. Metabolic heat production, calculated from rates of carbon dioxide production, decreased linearly by 43 % as Ta rose from 21 to 45 degrees C. Evaporative heat loss increased nonlinearly by over sevenfold, with evaporation rising rapidly at Ta values above 33 degrees C. At Ta values above 43 degrees C, head temperature dropped below Ta by approximately 1–2 degrees C, indicating that substantial evaporation from the head was occurring at very high Ta values. The water flux of flying honeybees was positive at Ta values below 31 degrees C, but increasingly negative at higher Ta values. At all Ta values, flying honeybees experienced a net radiative heat loss. Since the honeybees were in thermal equilibrium, convective heat loss was calculated as the amount of heat necessary to balance metabolic heat gain against evaporative and radiative heat loss. Convective heat loss decreased strongly as Ta rose because of the decrease in the elevation of body temperature above Ta rather than the variation in the convection coefficient. In conclusion, variation in metabolic heat production is the dominant mechanism of maintaining thermal stability during flight between Ta values of 21 and 33 degrees C, but variations in metabolic heat production and evaporative heat loss are equally important to the prevention of overheating during flight at Ta values between 33 and 45 degrees C.

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 1401-1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. Lin ◽  
Andi Chandra ◽  
T. C. Fung

The effects of both systemic and central administration of phentolamine on the thermoregulatory functions of conscious rats to various ambient temperatures were assessed. Injection of phentolamine intraperitoneally or into a lateral cerebral ventricle both produced a dose-dependent fall in rectal temperature at room temperature and below it. At a cold environmental temperature (8 °C) the hypothermia in response to phentolamine was due to a decrease in metabolic heat production, but at room temperature (22 °C) the hypothermia was due to cutaneous vasodilatation (as indicated by an increase in foot and tail skin temperatures) and decreased metabolic heat production. There were no changes in respiratory evaporative heat loss. However, in the hot environment (30 °C), phentolamine administration produced no changes in rectal temperature or other thermoregulatory responses. A central component of action is indicated by the fact that a much smaller intraventricular dose of phentolamine was required to exert the same effect as intraperitoneal injection. The data indicate that phentolamine decreases heat production and (or) increases heat loss which leads to hypothermia, probably via central nervous system actions.


1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 903-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. Lin ◽  
A. Chandra ◽  
Y. F. Chern ◽  
B. L. Tsay

Systemic and central administration of d-amphetamine both produced dose-dependent hypothermia in the rat at ambient temperature (Ta) 8 °C. The hypothermia was brought about solely by a decrease in metabolic heat production. However, at both Ta 22 and 30 °C, d-amphetamine produced hyperthermia accompanied by behavioral excitation. The hyperthermia was due to cutaneous vasoconstriction and increased metabolic heat production (due to behavioral excitation) at Ta 22 °C, whereas at Ta 30 °C the hyperthermia was due to cutaneous vasoconstriction, decreased respiratory evaporative heat loss, and increased metabolism (due to behavioral excitation). Furthermore, both the thermal and the behavioral responses induced by d-amphetamine were antagonized by pretreatment with intracerebroventricular administration of 6-hydroxydopamine (a depletor of central catecholaminergic nerve fibers). The data indicate that, by eliminating the interference of behavioral responses induced, d-amphetamine leads to an alteration in body temperature of rats by decreasing both metabolic heat production and sensible heat loss, probably via the activation of central catecholaminergic receptors.


1995 ◽  
Vol 198 (7) ◽  
pp. 1499-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
G E Walsberg ◽  
B O Wolf

We report the first empirical data describing the interactive effects of simultaneous changes in irradiance and convection on energy expenditure by live mammals. Whole-animal rates of solar heat gain and convective heat loss were measured for representatives of two ground squirrel species, Spermophilus lateralis and Spermophilus saturatus, that contrast in coloration. Radiative heat gain was quantified as the decrease in metabolic heat production caused by the animal's exposure to simulated solar radiation. Changes in convective heat loss were quantified as the variation in metabolic heat production caused by changes in wind speed. For both species, exposure to 780 W m-2 of simulated solar radiation significantly reduced metabolic heat production at all wind speeds measured. Reductions were greatest at lower wind speeds, reaching 42% in S. lateralis and 29% in S. saturatus. Solar heat gain, expressed per unit body surface area, did not differ significantly between the two species. This heat gain equalled 14-21% of the radiant energy intercepted by S. lateralis and 18-22% of that intercepted by S. saturatus. Body resistance, an index of animal insulation, declined by only 10% in S. saturatus and 13% in S. lateralis as wind speed increased from 0.5 to 4.0 ms-1. These data demonstrate that solar heat gain can be essentially constant, despite marked differences in animal coloration, and that variable exposure to wind and sunlight can have important consequences for both thermoregulatory stress experienced by animals and their patterns of energy allocation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 843-843
Author(s):  
Daniel Gagnon

The current thesis examined whether sex differences in local and whole-body heat loss are evident after accounting for confounding differences in physical characteristics and rate of metabolic heat production. Three experimental studies were performed: the first examined whole-body heat loss in males and females matched for body mass and surface area during exercise at a fixed rate of metabolic heat production; the second examined local and whole-body heat loss responses between sexes during exercise at increasing requirements for heat loss; the third examined sex-differences in local sweating and cutaneous vasodilation to given doses of pharmacological agonists, as well as during passive heating. The first study demonstrated that females exhibit a lower whole-body sudomotor thermosensitivity (553 ± 77 vs. 795 ± 85 W·°C−1, p = 0.05) during exercise performed at a fixed rate of metabolic heat production. The second study showed that whole-body sudomotor thermosensitivity is similar between sexes at a requirement for heat loss of 250 W·m−2 (496 ± 139 vs. 483 ± 185 W·m−2·°C−1, p = 0.91) and 300 W·m−2 (283 ± 70 vs. 211 ± 66 W·m−2·°C−1, p = 0.17), only becoming greater in males at a requirement for heat loss of 350 W·m−2 (197 ± 61 vs. 82 ± 27 W·m−2·°C−1, p = 0.007). In the third study, a lower sweat rate to the highest concentration of acetylcholine (0.27 ± 0.08 vs. 0.48 ± 0.13 mg·min−1·cm−2, p = 0.02) and methacholine (0.41 ± 0.09 vs. 0.57 ± 0.11 mg·min−1·cm−2, p = 0.04) employed was evidenced in females, with no differences in cholinergic sensitivity. Taken together, the results of the current thesis show that sex itself can modulate sudomotor activity, specifically the thermosensitivity of the response, during both exercise and passive heat stress. Furthermore, the results of the third study point towards a peripheral modulation of the sweat gland as a mechanism responsible for the lower sudomotor thermosensitivity in females.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiabin Fang ◽  
Nan Tu ◽  
Jinjia Wei

Solar cavity receiver is a key component to realize the light-heat conversion in tower-type solar power system. It usually has an aperture for concentrated sunlight coming in, and the heat loss is unavoidable because of this aperture. Generally, in order to improve the thermal efficiency, a layer of coating having high absorptivity for sunlight would be covered on the surface of the absorber tubes inside the cavity receiver. As a result, it is necessary to investigate the effects of the emissivity of absorber tubes on the thermal performance of the receiver. In the present work, the thermal performances of the receiver with different absorber emissivity were numerically simulated. The results showed that the thermal efficiency increases and the total heat loss decreases with increasing emissivity of absorber tubes. However, the thermal efficiency increases by only 1.6% when the emissivity of tubes varies from 0.2 to 0.8. Therefore, the change of absorber emissivity has slight effect on the thermal performance of the receiver. The reason for variation tendency of performance curves was also carefully analyzed. It was found that the temperature reduction of the cavity walls causes the decrease of the radiative heat loss and the convective heat loss.


1980 ◽  
Vol 239 (1) ◽  
pp. R57-R61
Author(s):  
P. E. Hillman ◽  
N. R. Scott ◽  
A. van Tienhoven

Intraventricular injections of 5-hydroxytryptamine-HCl (258 nmol) or acetylcholine-HCl (550 nmol) in the chicken caused body temperature to rise at 35 degrees C ambient, a result of decreased evaporative heat loss due to bradypnea. At 10 and 20 degrees C ambient, neither drug affected body temperature. Although these drugs decreased physical activity or shivering or both at 10 and 20 degrees C, metabolic heat production was not depressed enough to alter body temperature significantly. Heart rate decreased simultaneously with decreased activity at 20 degrees C. This study is the first to inject 5-hydroxytryptamine as a salt of HCl, instead of creatinine sulfate, as is commonly used. It is suggested that some of the differences reported herein, compared to other studies, are due to the type of salt used. It is postulated that either 5-hydroxytryptamine or acetylcholine, rather than norepinephrine, may be an important neurotransmitter in the neural pathways for thermoregulation in chickens, even though their action on thermoregulation is minor compared with norepinephrine.


Science ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 274 (5284) ◽  
pp. 88-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Harrison ◽  
J. H. Fewell ◽  
S. P. Roberts ◽  
H. G. Hall

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