scholarly journals A Novel Behavioral Assay to Investigate Gustatory Responses of Individual, Freely-moving Bumble Bees (Bombus terrestris)

10.3791/54233 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Ma ◽  
Sébastien Kessler ◽  
Alexander Simpson ◽  
Geraldine Wright
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Behavioral Assay ◽  
Freely Moving

scholarly journals Olfactory coding in the antennal lobe of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Mertes ◽  
Julie Carcaud ◽  
Jean-Christophe Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Carbon Chain Length ◽  
Olfactory Coding ◽  
Major Transitions

AbstractSociality is classified as one of the major transitions in evolution, with the largest number of eusocial species found in the insect order Hymenoptera, including the Apini (honey bees) and the Bombini (bumble bees). Bumble bees and honey bees not only differ in their social organization and foraging strategies, but comparative analyses of their genomes demonstrated that bumble bees have a slightly less diverse family of olfactory receptors than honey bees, suggesting that their olfactory abilities have adapted to different social and/or ecological conditions. However, unfortunately, no precise comparison of olfactory coding has been performed so far between honey bees and bumble bees, and little is known about the rules underlying olfactory coding in the bumble bee brain. In this study, we used in vivo calcium imaging to study olfactory coding of a panel of floral odorants in the antennal lobe of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris. Our results show that odorants induce reproducible neuronal activity in the bumble bee antennal lobe. Each odorant evokes a different glomerular activity pattern revealing this molecule’s chemical structure, i.e. its carbon chain length and functional group. In addition, pairwise similarity among odor representations are conserved in bumble bees and honey bees. This study thus suggests that bumble bees, like honey bees, are equipped to respond to odorants according to their chemical features.

scholarly journals Adding Amino Acids to a Sucrose Diet Is Not Sufficient to Support Longevity of Adult Bumble Bees

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Grund-Mueller ◽  
Fabian A. Ruedenauer ◽  
Johannes Spaethe ◽  
Sara D. Leonhardt
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Amino Acid Content ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Nutritional Composition ◽  
Nutrient Composition ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Essential Amino Acid Content

Dietary macro-nutrients (i.e., carbohydrates, protein, and fat) are important for bee larval development and, thus, colony health and fitness. To which extent different diets (varying in macro-nutrient composition) affect adult bees and whether they can thrive on nectar as the sole amino acid source has, however, been little investigated. We investigated how diets varying in protein concentration and overall nutrient composition affected consumption, longevity, and breeding behavior of the buff-tailed bumble bee, Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Queenless micro-colonies were fed either natural nutrient sources (pollen), nearly pure protein (i.e., the milk protein casein), or sucrose solutions with low and with high essential amino acid content in concentrations as can be found in nectar. We observed micro-colonies for 110 days. We found that longevity was highest for pure pollen and lowest for pure sucrose solution and sucrose solution supplemented with amino acids in concentrations as found in the nectar of several plant species. Adding higher concentrations of amino acids to sucrose solution did only slightly increase longevity compared to sucrose alone. Consequently, sucrose solution with the applied concentrations and proportions of amino acids or other protein sources (e.g., casein) alone did not meet the nutritional needs of healthy adult bumble bees. In fact, longevity was highest and reproduction only successful in micro-colonies fed pollen. These results indicate that, in addition to carbohydrates and protein, adult bumble bees, like larvae, need further nutrients (e.g., lipids and micro-nutrients) for their well-being. An appropriate nutritional composition seemed to be best provided by floral pollen, suggesting that pollen is an essential dietary component not only for larvae but also for adult bees.

Effects of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide, on reproduction in worker bumble bees (Bombus terrestris)

Ecotoxicology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1937-1945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Laycock ◽  
Kate M. Lenthall ◽  
Andrew T. Barratt ◽  
James E. Cresswell
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees

scholarly journals Contextual modulation of visuomotor associations in bumble‐bees ( Bombus terrestris )

1999 ◽  
Vol 266 (1436) ◽  
pp. 2413-2418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Colborn ◽  
Azlina Ahmad-Annuar ◽  
Karine Fauria ◽  
Thomas S. Collett
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Contextual Modulation

scholarly journals Co-occurrence of RNA viruses in Tasmanian-introduced bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) and honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Apidologie ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-251
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Fung ◽  
Kelly Hill ◽  
Katja Hogendoorn ◽  
Andrew B. Hingston ◽  
Richard V. Glatz
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees

Investigating the impact of deploying commercial Bombus terrestris for crop pollination on pathogen dynamics in wild bumble bees

2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope R Whitehorn ◽  
Matthew C Tinsley ◽  
Mark J F Brown ◽  
Dave Goulson
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Crop Pollination ◽  
Pathogen Dynamics ◽  
The Impact

The power and efficiency of brood incubation in queenless microcolonies of bumble bees ( Bombus terrestris L.)

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 601-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer S. Livesey ◽  
Caius Constable ◽  
William G. Rawlinson ◽  
Alice M. Robotham ◽  
Christopher Wright ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees
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