Breed MD, Leger EA, Pearce AN, Wang YJ
Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology, The University of Colorado at Boulder
Anim Behav. 1998 Jan;55(1):13-20. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1997.0581.
We addressed the general question of how kin recognition cues develop by investigating cue differentiation between colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. In honey bee colonies, exposure to the wax comb is a critical component of the development of kin recognition cues. In this study, we determined how the cues develop under natural conditions (in swarms), whether the genetic source and age of the wax affect cue ontogeny, and whether exposure to wax, as in normal development, affects preferential feeding among bees within social groups. Cue development in swarms coincided with wax production, rather than with the presence of brood or the emergence of new workers; this finding supported previous observations concerning the importance of wax in cue ontogeny. Effective cue development required a match between the genetic source of the workers attempting to enter the hive, the wax to which they were exposed, and the guards at the hive entrance. The wax must also have been exposed to the hive environment for some time. Cues gained from wax did not mask or override cues used in preferential feeding interactions; this finding supports the contention that two recognition systems, one for nestmate recognition and the other for intra-colonial recognition, are present. The results fit a general model for cue development in nestmate recognition that relies on the use of nesting materials as an intermediary; the evolutionary significance of this model is discussed. Copyright 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
我们通过研究蜜蜂（西方蜜蜂）蜂群之间的线索差异，探讨了亲缘识别线索如何发展这一普遍问题。在蜜蜂蜂群中，接触蜡巢脾是亲缘识别线索发展的关键组成部分。在本研究中，我们确定了这些线索在自然条件下（蜂群中）是如何发展的，蜡的遗传来源和年龄是否会影响线索的个体发育，以及像在正常发育过程中那样接触蜡是否会影响社会群体内蜜蜂之间的偏好性喂食。蜂群中的线索发展与蜡的产生同步，而非与幼虫的存在或新工蜂的出现同步；这一发现支持了先前关于蜡在线索个体发育中的重要性的观察结果。有效的线索发展要求试图进入蜂巢的工蜂的遗传来源、它们接触的蜡以及蜂巢入口处的守卫之间相互匹配。蜡还必须在蜂巢环境中暴露一段时间。从蜡中获得的线索不会掩盖或取代偏好性喂食互动中使用的线索；这一发现支持了存在两种识别系统的观点，一种用于识别同巢伙伴，另一种用于识别蜂群内成员。这些结果符合一种同巢伙伴识别线索发展的一般模型，该模型依赖于将筑巢材料用作媒介；并讨论了该模型的进化意义。版权所有1998动物行为研究协会。
