Robinson G E, Vargo E L
Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA.
Arch Insect Biochem Physiol. 1997;35(4):559-83. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6327(1997)35:4<559::AID-ARCH13>3.0.CO;2-9.
Studies on the role of juvenile hormone (JH) in adult social Hymenoptera have focused on the regulation of two fundamental aspects of colony organization: reproductive division of labor between queens and workers and age-related division of labor among workers. JH acts as a gonadotropin in the primitively eusocial wasp and bumble bee species studied, and may also play this role in the advanced eusocial fire ants. However, there is no evidence that JH acts as a traditional gonadotropin in the advanced eusocial honey bee or in the few other ant species that have recently begun to be studied. The role of JH in age-related division of labor has been most thoroughly examined in honey bees. Results of these studies demonstrate that JH acts as a "behavioral pacemaker," influencing how fast a worker grows up and makes the transition from nest activities to foraging. Hypotheses concerning the evolutionary relationship between the two functions of JH in adult eusocial Hymenoptera are discussed.
关于保幼激素（JH）在成年群居膜翅目昆虫中作用的研究，聚焦于群体组织两个基本方面的调节：蜂王与工蜂之间的生殖分工以及工蜂之间与年龄相关的分工。在所研究的原始群居黄蜂和熊蜂物种中，保幼激素起着促性腺激素的作用，在高度群居的火蚁中可能也发挥此作用。然而，没有证据表明保幼激素在高度群居的蜜蜂或最近才开始研究的少数其他蚂蚁物种中充当传统的促性腺激素。保幼激素在与年龄相关的分工中的作用在蜜蜂中得到了最深入的研究。这些研究结果表明，保幼激素充当“行为起搏器”，影响工蜂成长的速度以及从巢内活动向觅食活动转变的过程。文中还讨论了关于保幼激素在成年群居膜翅目昆虫中的这两种功能之间进化关系的假说。
