Abstract
The stinging response thresholds of individual European and Africanized worker honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) were analyzed. Workers of each genotype performing defense (guard and soldier bees) and non-defense (nest and forager bees) associated tasks were collected and exposed to an electric stimulus of 0.5 mA, and the time they took to sting a leather substrate was recorded. Africanized bees had significant lower thresholds of response than European bees. Guards and soldiers were faster to sting than nest and forager bees for the Africanized genotype, whereas for the European genotype, guards stung significantly faster than bees of the other three task groups. This is the first study that shows that individual bees specialized in two defensive tasks also have a lower response threshold for stinging. Our results fit a model of division of labor based on differences in response thresholds to stimuli among workers of different genotypes and task groups.
Highlights
Division of labor in insect societies can be explained by behavioral threshold variance among individual members of a colony [1,2]
Africanized bees responded significantly faster to the electric stimulus than European bees (F1,998 = 108.15, P < 0.0001) with mean stinging times of 2.32 ± 0.15 and 3.06 ± 0.18 s, respectively. Africanized bees performing both defense activities stung significantly faster than bees not performing defense tasks (F3,496= 70.81, P < 0.0001; Figure 1), but in European bees, no differences were detected for time to sting among three task groups, guards stung significantly faster than forager and nest bees (F3,496 = 5.92, P < 0.001; Figure 2)
The genotypic effects reported here agree with studies that have shown that Africanized bees are more defensive than European bees [3]
Summary
Division of labor in insect societies can be explained by behavioral threshold variance among individual members of a colony [1,2]. Defensive tasks are carried out by guards and soldiers, individuals that specialize in either guarding the colony entrance or in stinging potential intruders [4]. Guards exclude bees (or other invertebrates) that are foreign to their colony, and alert other colony workers about intruders. By releasing pheromones, they recruit bees from the interior of the colony and some of the recruited bees (the soldiers) fly out, detect, pursue and sting vertebrate intruders [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
