Science. 1989 Oct 6;246(4926):109-12. doi: 10.1126/science.246.4926.109.
The ability of insect colonies to adjust the division of labor among workers in response to changing environmental and colony conditions, coupled with research showing genetic effects on the division of labor in honey bee colonies, led to an investigation of the role of genetics and the environment in the integration of worker behavior. Measurements of juvenile hormone(JH) titers and allozyme analyses of worker honey bees suggest that two processes are involved in colony-level regulation of division of labor: (i) plasticity in age-dependent behavior is a consequence of modulation of JH titers by extrinsic factors, and (ii) stimuli that can affect JH titers and age-dependent behavior do elicit variable responses among genetically distinct subpopulations of workers within a colony. These results provide a new perspective on the developmental plasticity of insect colonies and support the emerging view that colony genetic structure affects behavioral organization.
昆虫群体能够根据环境和群体条件的变化调整工蜂之间的劳动分工，再加上研究表明遗传因素对蜜蜂群体的劳动分工有影响，这促使人们研究遗传和环境在工蜂行为综合中的作用。对保幼激素 (JH) 滴度的测量和工蜂同工酶的分析表明，群体水平调节劳动分工涉及两个过程：(i) 由外在因素调节 JH 滴度导致了与年龄相关的行为的可塑性，以及 (ii) 能够影响 JH 滴度和与年龄相关的行为的刺激因素确实会在群体内的遗传上不同的工人亚群之间引起可变的反应。这些结果为昆虫群体的发育可塑性提供了一个新的视角，并支持了一个新兴的观点，即群体遗传结构影响行为组织。
