CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION IN Apis mellifera: TEMPORAL MODULATION OF ALARM BEHAVIORS

Abstract

The effect of pheromones and their chemical analogues in honeybee alarm behaviors was studied in observation boxes. Defensive behaviors, as follows: a) attraction to scent source, b) elevation of wings in "V", c) abdomen elevation, d) abdomen elevation and pumping and e) first leg pair elevation had been temporarily registered when the following compounds were presented: isoamyl alcohol, octyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, n-butyl acetate, n-octyl acetate, isopentyl acetate, benzyl acetate and 2-heptanone. The results were as follows: 1. the bees elicited some characteristic behaviors when chemical alarm messages were presented, 2. agression (stinging) was not completed with any compound tested, probably because there was not a target (visual stimulus), 3. in all situations the attraction to scent source was low, 4. all the behaviors were elicited in a temporarily different way, 5. the compounds that elicited stronger responses and a greater number of the investigated behaviors were: isopentyl acetate, 2-heptanone, octyl acetate and n-octyl alcohol. In all situations, the first behavior response (and the most intense one) was the elevation and pumping the abdomen. This suggests that the chemical message was promptly recognized and then transmitted to each worker. So, the results obtained in the present work, suggest that chemical alarm messages may be recognized by different mechanisms of neural integration

Impact of Chronic Exposure to Two Neonicotinoids on Honey Bee Antennal Responses to Flower Volatiles and Pheromonal Compounds

“…However, 1-hexanol and hexyl acetate (53) appear to be involved in nestmate recruitment rather than stinging behavior (54). Benzyl alcohol was reported as being ineffective as an alarm pheromone ( 55), e.g., it did not elicit defensive behaviors (56), and its function as a pheromone seems unclear (54). Benzyl acetate alone only induced flight behavior (57), and had a repellent effect when combined with n-octyl acetate (54,58).…”

Complementary Specializations of the Left and Right Sides of the Honeybee Brain

“…IAA, also referred to as isopentyl acetate, is the main active component of the sting pheromone of the honeybee ( Boch et al., 1962 ), and the function of sting pheromone is to recruit bees from the hive to attack ( Free, 1961 ) or to elicit flight ( Wagner and Breed, 2000 ). The attack response includes, initially, abdomen elevation and pumping ( Costa et al., 1996 ), followed by searching and orienting to the source of the odor, and the bee emits high-pitched buzzing and makes body thrusts, which can lead to stinging. It also increases flight and localization of a moving target ( Wagner and Breed, 2000 ).…”