Flagellar sensilla of bumble bee males (Hymenopera, Apidae, Bombus)

Ågren, Lennart; Hallberg, Eric

doi:10.1051/apido:19960601

Cited by 38 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…This approach allowed us to assign putative functions to each type of sensilla and provided additional criteria to perform more accurate comparisons than those based solely on SEM observations of the external morphology. Nervous tissue was absent in both types of setae, a fact which is in agreement with previous reports for a non-sensory function of these structures (Eichmüller and Schäfer 1995;Ågren and Hallberg 1996). The main difference in the patterns of sensilla among the species corresponded to the presence of sBa and setae.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Antennal sensilla of cleptoparasitic and non-parasitic bees in two subfamilies of Apidae

et al. 2017

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-In bees, most of the comparative studies linking the sensory system and behavior were performed in social species. Here, we describe the morphology of antennal sensilla in solitary and cleptoparasitic bees of Apinae and Nomadinae. The external and internal structure of sensilla and setae as well as their distribution in flagella were studied in detail in two different host-cleptoparasitic associations. In addition, taking into account the presence of pores, the distribution of sensilla was compared in females and males of 39 species of these subfamilies. It was found that males of non-parasitic bees showed a higher number of multiporous sensilla. Females had more uniporous and nonporous sensilla than males. Cleptoparasitic bees showed a low diversity in types of sensilla and no sexual dimorphism in number. The pattern of sensilla in males and their cleptoparasitic females was discussed in the context of their ecological roles.antennal morphology / sensilla ultrastructure / olfaction / dimorphism

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Antennal sensilla of cleptoparasitic and non-parasitic bees in two subfamilies of Apidae

et al. 2017

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“…Males entirely lack basiconic sensilla ( Fig. 2 A and B), as in other ants and bees (16,(33)(34)(35). In contrast, workers possess about 65 basiconic sensilla, all clustered in an array on the anterior-ventral surface of the antennal club ( Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Transcriptomics and neuroanatomy of the clonal raider ant implicate an expanded clade of odorant receptors in chemical communication

McKenzie

Fetter-Pruneda

Ruta

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

122

182

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A major aim of sociogenomic research is to uncover common principles in the molecular evolution of sociality. This endeavor has been hampered by the small number of specific genes currently known to function in social behavior. Here we provide several lines of evidence suggesting that ants have evolved a large and novel clade of odorant receptor (OR) genes to perceive hydrocarbonbased pheromones, arguably the most important signals in ant communication. This genomic expansion is also mirrored in the ant brain via a corresponding expansion of a specific cluster of glomeruli in the antennal lobe. We show that in the clonal raider ant, hydrocarbon-sensitive basiconic sensilla are found only on the ventral surface of the female antennal club. Correspondingly, nearly all genes in a clade of 180 ORs within the 9-exon subfamily of ORs are expressed exclusively in females and are highly enriched in expression in the ventral half of the antennal club. Furthermore, we found that across species and sexes, the number of 9-exon ORs expressed in antennae is tightly correlated with the number of glomeruli in the antennal lobe region innervated by odorant receptor neurons from basiconic sensilla. Evolutionary analyses show that this clade underwent a striking gene expansion in the ancestors of all ants and slower but continued expansion in extant ant lineages. This evidence suggests that ants have evolved a large clade of genes to support pheromone perception and that gene duplications have played an important role in the molecular evolution of ant communication.sociogenomics | chemosensation | social evolution | antennal lobe | Formicidae T he field of sociogenomics seeks to understand the molecular basis of sociality, asking how social life evolved and how it is governed at the genomic level (1). A particularly pertinent question in the field is the role of novel genes vs. conserved genes in the evolution and regulation of social behaviors, including communication (2, 3). Communication is important to a broad range of organisms, yet relatively little is known about the genetic components of communication systems and how they evolve. A particularly interesting question in the field is how social signals are perceived and what sort of genetic and physiological specializations facilitate signal perception in highly social organisms (4, 5). In the most tractable sociogenomic models, the eusocial hymenopteran insects, communication is largely chemical, and the genetics and physiology of chemosensation in these species may hold the key to understanding their advanced communication (4,6, 74).Much is already known about the insect chemosensory system in general (8,9). Briefly, chemicals are detected by porous sensory hairs (sensilla) located on chemosensory organs such as the legs, wings, palps, and especially the antennae. The sensilla house the dendrites of olfactory and/or gustatory receptor neurons (ORNs/GRNs) with receptor proteins in the olfactory receptor (OR), the gustatory receptor (GR), or the ionotropic receptor (IR) gene ...

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“…Previous studies of the olfactory system in bumblebees revealed a close morphological and anatomical similarity to that of honeybees (Fonta and Masson 1985;Agren and Hallberg 1996). As in honeybees, the pore plate sensilla are the most abundant antennal olfactory sensilla, which in bumblebees house 13-20, most commonly 14-15, sensory neurons (Esslen and Kaissling 1976;Agren and Hallberg 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Size determines antennal sensitivity and behavioral threshold to odors in bumblebee workers

Spaethe

Brockmann

Halbig

et al. 2007

Naturwissenschaften

166

157

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The eusocial bumblebees exhibit pronounced size variation among workers of the same colony. Differently sized workers engage in different tasks (alloethism); large individuals are found to have a higher probability to leave the colony and search for food, whereas small workers tend to stay inside the nest and attend to nest duties. We investigated the effect of size variation on morphology and physiology of the peripheral olfactory system and the behavioral response thresholds to odors in workers of Bombus terrestris. Number and density of olfactory sensilla on the antennae correlate significantly with worker size. Consistent with these morphological changes, we found that antennal sensitivity to odors increases with body size. Antennae of large individuals show higher electroantennogram responses to a given odor concentration than those of smaller nestmates. This finding indicates that large antennae exhibit an increased capability to catch odor molecules and thus are more sensitive to odors than small antennae. We confirmed this prediction in a dual choice behavioral experiment showing that large workers indeed are able to respond correctly to much lower odor concentrations than small workers. Learning performance in these experiments did not differ between small and large bumblebees. Our results clearly show that, in the social bumblebees, variation in olfactory sensilla number due to size differences among workers strongly affects individual odor sensitivity. We speculate that superior odor sensitivity of large workers has favored size-related division of labor in bumblebee colonies.

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Flagellar sensilla of bumble bee males (Hymenopera, Apidae, Bombus)

Cited by 38 publications

References 9 publications

Antennal sensilla of cleptoparasitic and non-parasitic bees in two subfamilies of Apidae

Antennal sensilla of cleptoparasitic and non-parasitic bees in two subfamilies of Apidae

Transcriptomics and neuroanatomy of the clonal raider ant implicate an expanded clade of odorant receptors in chemical communication

Size determines antennal sensitivity and behavioral threshold to odors in bumblebee workers

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