Ishay Jacob S, Barkay Zahava, Eliaz Noam, Plotkin Marian, Volynchik Stanislav, Bergman David J
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Naturwissenschaften. 2008 Apr;95(4):333-42. doi: 10.1007/s00114-007-0334-z. Epub 2007 Dec 18.
Social wasps and hornets maintain their nest in the dark. The building of the combs by all Vespinae is always in the direction of the gravitational force of Earth, and in each cell's ceiling, at least one 'keystone' is embedded and fastened by saliva. The sensory mechanisms that enable both building of sizeable symmetrical combs and nursing of the brood in the darkness merit investigation, and the aim of the present study was to identify and characterize the 'keystones' that exist in the ceiling and in the walls of the social wasp comb cells. Bio-ferrography was used to isolate magnetic particles on slides. These slides, as well as original cells, were analyzed in an environmental scanning electron microscope by a variety of analytical tools. It was found that both the roof and the walls of each comb cell bear minerals, like ferrites, as well as Ti and Zr. The latter two elements are less abundant in the soil around the nest. Ti and Zr are known to reflect infrared (IR) light. IR imaging showed a thermoregulatory center in the dorsal thorax of the adult Oriental hornet. It is not known yet whether these insects can sense IR light.
社会性黄蜂和大黄蜂将巢穴维持在黑暗之中。所有胡蜂科昆虫建造蜂巢时总是朝着地球引力的方向，并且在每个巢室的顶部，至少有一个“拱心石”被唾液嵌入并固定。使得它们能够在黑暗中建造出相当大的对称蜂巢并哺育幼虫的感觉机制值得研究，本研究的目的是识别并描述社会性黄蜂巢室顶部和壁上存在的“拱心石”。生物铁谱法用于在载玻片上分离磁性颗粒。这些载玻片以及原始巢室，通过各种分析工具在环境扫描电子显微镜下进行分析。研究发现，每个蜂巢巢室的顶部和壁上都含有矿物质，如铁氧体，以及钛和锆。后两种元素在巢穴周围的土壤中含量较少。已知钛和锆能反射红外（IR）光。红外成像显示成年东方大黄蜂的背部胸部有一个温度调节中心。目前还不清楚这些昆虫是否能感知红外光。
