Abstract
Simple SummaryThis paper reviews the interdisciplinary research on nectar feeding behaviour of honey bees ranging from morphology, dynamics, and energy-saving strategies, which collects a range of knowledge of feeding physiology of honey bees and may inspire the design paradigms of next-generation multifunctional microfluidic transporters.Most flower-visiting insects have evolved highly specialized morphological structures to facilitate nectar feeding. As a typical pollinator, the honey bee has specialized mouth parts comprised of a pair of galeae, a pair of labial palpi, and a glossa, to feed on the nectar by the feeding modes of lapping or sucking. To extensively elucidate the mechanism of a bee’s feeding, we should combine the investigations from glossa morphology, feeding behaviour, and mathematical models. This paper reviews the interdisciplinary research on nectar feeding behaviour of honey bees ranging from morphology, dynamics, and energy-saving strategies, which may not only reveal the mechanism of nectar feeding by honey bees but inspire engineered facilities for microfluidic transport.
Highlights
The majority of flower-visiting insects, including bees, wasps [1,2], flies [3], butterflies [4], moths [5], and some beetles [6,7], obtain nutrition from floral nectar and pollen from flowering plants [8]
The glossa extends out of the proboscid tube structured by the labial palpi and galeae, with glossal hairs attaching on the glossa body
A physical model is proposed to describe the feeding process considering the trade-off between nectar-intake volume and energy consumption. This asynchronization may be caused by the material properties of the elastic rod and the compliance of the segmented structures, especially the zig-zag shaped intersegmental membranes of the glossa [12], which is validated to be effective in maximizing the nectar-intake amount by theoretically figuring out the optimal moment when the glossal hairs begin to erect. This asynchronization suggests that the honey bee glossa can perform a scheduled coordination between glossa movements and hair erection, which could serve as valuable models for developing miniature pumps that are both extendable and have dynamic surfaces
Summary
The majority of flower-visiting insects, including bees, wasps [1,2], flies [3], butterflies [4], moths [5], and some beetles [6,7], obtain nutrition from floral nectar and pollen from flowering plants [8]. Honey bees can feed on a range of viscous fluids at high efficiencies [8] This behaviour is challenging because of the physical property of nectar, suggesting the nectar viscosity increases steeply with respect to the concentration, through which the glossa should have to resist high viscous drag [11,12,13,14]. If the glossa dips faster, the energetic intake rate will augment; the energy consumption caused by viscous drag will increase, so honey bees should have to meet the contradictive demands of both high energetic intake rate and low energetic loss while feeding on nectar. Investigations of the honey bee’s feeding behaviour and related mechanical principles may reflect the health status of high energetic intake rate and low energetic loss while feeding on nectar. Et,htehnenththeegglolossssaa mmaakkeessrreeccipiprorocactaintigngmmovoevmeemntesntthsrothurgohutghehttuhbeettuoblaeptonelactparn[e1c6t]a. r [16]
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