Learnt information in species-specific ‘trail pheromone’ communication in stingless bees
Specificity in biological signalling systems is often important to keep information private. Foragers of several species of stingless bees deposit chemical marking signals to guide nestmates to food sources. The markings show species- and colony-specific compositions and primarily attract a bee’s...
| Autores Principales: | Reichle, Christian, Aguilar Monge, Ingrid, Ayasse, Manfred, Twele, Robert, Francke, Wittko, Jarau, Stefan |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
| Idioma: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2022
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: |
http://hdl.handle.net/11056/23649 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.10.029 |
| Sumario: |
Specificity in biological signalling systems is often important to keep information private. Foragers of
several species of stingless bees deposit chemical marking signals to guide nestmates to food sources.
The markings show species- and colony-specific compositions and primarily attract a bee’s nestmates. An
interesting question is whether the bees innately recognize specific trail markings or learn their
particular composition from nestmates. To investigate this question, we tested whether Scaptotrigona
pectoralis and Scaptotrigona subobscuripennis workers taken from their mother colonies and workers that
emerged from combs transferred to foster colonies of the congeneric species are attracted to the marking
compounds of workers from their natal colony or from the foster colony. A significant majority of
workers were attracted to extracts prepared from foragers of the nest they inhabited, regardless of
whether this was the original mother or the congeneric foster colony. Thus, the preference of stingless
bee workers for specific food-marking scent mixtures is not innate, but is influenced by the odour they
experience within their colony. Despite marked differences in the chemical composition of the scent
marks in labial gland secretions of the two investigated species they also shared some main components.
We hypothesize that recruitment trail information in stingless bees is composed of one or a few key
pheromone compounds acting in conjunction with an additional signature mixture that is species and
colony specific and must be learnt by recruited workers. |
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