Switchable Wettability of the Honeybee’s Tongue Surface Regulated by Erectable Glossal Hairs

Chen, Ji; Wu, Jianing; Yan, Shaoze

doi:10.1093/jisesa/iev143

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…Repeating this experiment at various sugar concentrations, cs, shows that the lapping rate is essentially constant (Fig. 1C) with a lapping time T L 0.2 s in agreement with previous measurements on various bee species (11)(12)(13)(15)(16)(17)(18). For each concentration considered, the ingestion rate is obtained and reported in Fig.…”

supporting

confidence: 88%

Essential role of papillae flexibility in nectar capture by bees

Lechantre

Draux

Hua

et al. 2021

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

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Many bees possess a tongue resembling a brush composed of a central rod (glossa) covered by elongated papillae, which is dipped periodically into nectar to collect this primary source of energy. In vivo measurements show that the amount of nectar collected per lap remains essentially constant for sugar concentrations lower than 50% but drops significantly for a concentration around 70%. To understand this variation of the ingestion rate with the sugar content of nectar, we investigate the dynamics of fluid capture by Bombus terrestris as a model system. During the dipping process, the papillae, which initially adhere to the glossa, unfold when immersed in the nectar. Combining in vivo investigations, macroscopic experiments with flexible rods, and an elastoviscous theoretical model, we show that the capture mechanism is governed by the relaxation dynamics of the bent papillae, driven by their elastic recoil slowed down through viscous dissipation. At low sugar concentrations, the papillae completely open before the tongue retracts out of nectar and thus, fully contribute to the fluid capture. In contrast, at larger concentrations corresponding to the drop of the ingestion rate, the viscous dissipation strongly hinders the papillae opening, reducing considerably the amount of nectar captured. This study shows the crucial role of flexible papillae, whose aspect ratio determines the optimal nectar concentration, to understand quantitatively the capture of nectar by bees and how physics can shed some light on the degree of adaptation of a specific morphological trait.

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supporting

confidence: 88%

Essential role of papillae flexibility in nectar capture by bees

Lechantre

Draux

Hua

et al. 2021

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

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“…When the glossa inserts into nectar, the glossal surface of a honey bee is coated by nectar. Analogously to the model established for uptake of liquid from wet surfaces by a brush-tipped proboscis, the nectar coating of honey bee's glossal surface in viscous fluid may be mainly caused by wetting and capillary Chen et al 2015). For the nectar uploading process, whether all of the nectar between the glossal hairs can be impelled in the viscous nectar is really important.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding Kinematics and Nectar Intake of the Honey Bee Tongue

Zhu

Liu

et al. 2016

J Insect Behav

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Most flower-visiting insects employ highly-evolved organs to feed themselves rapidly and efficiently on the floral nectar. A honey bee drives its segmented tongue (glossa) covered by dense hairs reciprocatingly to load nectar. A high-speed camera system ameliorated by a microscope revealed morphological changes in glossal surfaces during live honey bees' nectar dipping and surface configurations through the stretching of postmortem honey bees' glossae. Both the in vivo and postmortem observations reveal that shortening and lengthening of the glossal segments perform high concordance with the erection of glossal hairs, which aids in developing deformable gaps between rows of glossal hairs during nectar trapping. A model was proposed to evaluate the nectar-intake volume considering the experimentally-measured average erection angle and tongue elongation length during nectar feeding. The theoretical results fit the experimental data well and disclose that these two factors contribute to an augmentation of nectar-intake observably. We also theoretically present that the extendible and deformable glossae have advantages for the polylectic feeding behavior.

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“…From the exceptional camouflage capabilities of the cuttlefish and chameleon to the changeable wettability of the honeybee tongue, physical materials that can change their interfacial properties on‐demand allow them to interact with their dynamic environments effectively. While materials with dynamic optical properties can be readily found in nature, natural surfaces that can dynamically alter their liquid‐repellent functions are rare.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%