Effects of cocaine on honey bee dance behaviour

Abstract

SUMMARYThe role of cocaine as an addictive drug of abuse in human society is hard to reconcile with its ecological role as a natural insecticide and plant-protective compound, preventing herbivory of coca plants (Erythroxylum spp.). This paradox is often explained by proposing a fundamental difference in mammalian and invertebrate responses to cocaine, but here we show effects of cocaine on honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) that parallel human responses. Forager honey bees perform symbolic dances to advertise the location and value of floral resources to their nest mates. Treatment with a low dose of cocaine increased the likelihood and rate of bees dancing after foraging but did not otherwise increase locomotor activity. This is consistent with cocaine causing forager bees to overestimate the value of the floral resources they collected. Further, cessation of chronic cocaine treatment caused a withdrawal-like response. These similarities likely occur because in both insects and mammals the biogenic amine neuromodulator systems disrupted by cocaine perform similar roles as modulators of reward and motor systems. Given these analogous responses to cocaine in insects and mammals, we propose an alternative solution to the paradox of cocaine reinforcement. Ecologically, cocaine is an effective plant defence compound via disruption of herbivore motor control but, because the neurochemical systems targeted by cocaine also modulate reward processing, the reinforcing properties of cocaine occur as a ʻside effectʼ.

Honeybees and nectar nicotine: Deterrence and reduced survival versus potential health benefits

“…While nectar SM may be harmless when honeybees can forage on a variety of plants, detrimental effects are observed when the choice of flowering plant species is limited. Post-ingestive effects of nectar SM on honeybees include negative effects on foraging behaviour , interference with social communication (Barron et al, 2009;Gao et al, 2010), and an increase in mortality Reinhard et al, 2009;Tan et al, 2007). However, the consumption of SM may also be beneficial, as it has been shown to reduce the pathogen and parasitoid load of tobacco hornworms, fall armyworms and bumble bees (Barbosa et al, 1986;Manson et al, 2010).…”

Morphine addiction in ants: a new model for self-administration and neurochemical analysis

“…Historically, mammalian models have provided insights into the modulation of natural behavior throughout the addiction process by studying specific behaviors associated with addiction, such as drug seeking and self-administration (Kaun et al, 2012). However, invertebrate systems have recently proven advantageous to investigate basic motivational and behavioral systems underlying addiction Barron et al, 2009;Nathaniel et al, 2009).…”

Effects of morphine on associative memory and locomotor activity in the honeybee (Apis mellifera)

“…For example, caffeine improves both motivation and cognitive performance of free-flying honeybees in complex learning tasks [20] , and cocaine at low doses increases the likelihood and rate of honeybees dancing after foraging [21] .…”

“…However, some previous studies have reported that addictive drugs such as caffeine and cocaine at a very low dose have positive effects on motivation or cognition in honeybees [20,21] .…”

“…Although studies show that addictive drugs such as cocaine share rewarding and reinforcing effects in insects [21] , the natural concentration in plants is toxic to them, especially their motor systems. Therefore, in this work, that morphine reduced the locomotion in honeybees is reasonable and in line with previous reports.…”