Gu Gaoying, Wang Ziqi, Lin Tao, Wang Sainan, Li Jianjun, Dong Shihao, Nieh James C, Tan Ken
CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
J Anim Ecol. 2025 Jan;94(1):112-124. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.14224. Epub 2024 Nov 19.
Predatory threats, even when they do not involve direct consumption (non-consumptive effects, NCEs), can profoundly influence the physiology and behaviour of prey. For example, honeybees that encounter hornet predators show responses similar to fear. However, the physiological mechanisms that are connected with this fear-like response and their effects on bee cognition and olfaction remain largely unknown. We show that bees decreased time spent near the hornet, demonstrated fearful behaviour and moved with greater velocity to escape. After a prolonged 24-h exposure, bees adopted defensive clustering, displayed greater predator avoidance, and experienced a decline in brain dopamine levels. Prolonged predator exposure also diminished bee olfactory sensitivity to odours and their mechanical sensitivity to air currents, contributing to impaired olfactory learning. However, boosting brain dopamine reversed one fear-like behaviour (average bee velocity in the presence of a hornet) and rescued olfactory sensitivity and learning. We therefore provide evidence linking dopamine to sensory and cognitive declines associated with fear in an insect.
捕食性威胁，即使不涉及直接捕食（非消费性影响，NCEs），也会深刻影响猎物的生理和行为。例如，遇到黄蜂捕食者的蜜蜂会表现出类似恐惧的反应。然而，与这种类似恐惧反应相关的生理机制及其对蜜蜂认知和嗅觉的影响在很大程度上仍然未知。我们发现，蜜蜂在黄蜂附近停留的时间减少，表现出恐惧行为，并以更快的速度移动以逃避。经过长达24小时的暴露后，蜜蜂采取防御性聚集，表现出更强的捕食者回避行为，并且大脑多巴胺水平下降。长时间暴露于捕食者也会降低蜜蜂对气味的嗅觉敏感性以及对气流的机械敏感性，导致嗅觉学习受损。然而，提高大脑多巴胺水平可以逆转一种类似恐惧的行为（在黄蜂面前蜜蜂的平均速度），并恢复嗅觉敏感性和学习能力。因此，我们提供了证据，将多巴胺与昆虫中与恐惧相关的感官和认知衰退联系起来。
