Gramacho Kátia Peres, Gonçalves Lionel Segui, Stort Antônio Carlos, Noronha Adriana Backx
Faculty of Technology and Sciences (FTC), Course of Biological Sciences, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
Genet Mol Res. 2003 Sep 30;2(3):309-16.
Hygienic behavior is a desirable trait in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.), as hygienic bees quickly remove diseased brood, interrupting the infectious cycle. Hygienic lines of honey bees appear to be more sensitive to the odors of dead and diseased honey bee brood, and Africanized honey bees are generally more hygienic than are European honey bees. We compared the number of sensilla placodea, antennal sensory structures involved in the perception of odor, in 10 bees from each of six hygienic and four non-hygienic colonies of Africanized honey bees. The sensilla placodea of three of the terminal segments (flagellomeres) of the right antenna of each bee were counted with a scanning electron microscope. There were no significant differences in the mean numbers of sensilla placodea between the hygienic and non-hygienic bees, though the variance was higher in the hygienic group. Flagellomere 4 had significantly more sensilla placodea than flagellomeres 6 and 8. However, there was no significant difference between the other two flagellomeres. As hygienic bees are capable of identifying dead, injured, or infested brood inside a capped brood cell, sensilla placodea probably have an important role in enabling worker bees to sense sick brood. However, we did not find greater numbers of this sensory structure in the antennae of hygienic, compared to non-hygienic Africanized honey bees.
卫生行为是蜜蜂（西方蜜蜂）的一个理想特性，因为具有卫生习性的蜜蜂能迅速清除患病幼虫，从而打断感染循环。蜜蜂的卫生品系似乎对死亡和患病蜜蜂幼虫的气味更为敏感，而且非洲化蜜蜂通常比欧洲蜜蜂更讲卫生。我们比较了六个卫生型和四个非卫生型非洲化蜜蜂蜂群中各10只蜜蜂的板形感器数量，板形感器是参与气味感知的触角感觉结构。用扫描电子显微镜对每只蜜蜂右触角末端三个节段（鞭节）上的板形感器进行计数。卫生型蜜蜂和非卫生型蜜蜂的板形感器平均数没有显著差异，不过卫生型群体的方差更高。第4鞭节的板形感器明显多于第6和第8鞭节。然而，其他两个鞭节之间没有显著差异。由于具有卫生习性的蜜蜂能够识别封盖幼虫巢房内死亡、受伤或受感染的幼虫，板形感器可能在使工蜂感知患病幼虫方面发挥重要作用。然而，与非卫生型非洲化蜜蜂相比，我们并未在卫生型蜜蜂的触角中发现更多数量的这种感觉结构。
