Behavioral and Chemical Analyses of Trail Pheromones in the Amazonian Bumble Bee (Bombus transversalis)

动物行为程序非技术性摘要标题：POWRE：亚马逊大黄蜂(Bombus Transversalis)踪迹信息素的行为和化学分析PI：悉尼·A·卡梅伦建议#：9973447社会昆虫具有复杂的化学通讯系统，可与人类复杂的通讯系统相媲美。例如，众所周知，觅食的蚂蚁会沿着它们用信息素化学标记的地面小路，以调解与蚁群其他成员的交流。卡梅伦博士最近发现，亚马逊热带雨林中的一种群居蜜蜂会沿着类似于蚂蚁地面踪迹的小路离开并追踪，这一发现令人震惊，因为蜜蜂(和黄蜂)并不知道它们会利用地面足迹来收集资源。卡梅伦博士POWRE研究的重点是确定最近发现的跟踪蜜蜂是否像蚂蚁一样在它们的足迹上标记了通信信息素。蚂蚁和这种不同寻常的热带雨林蜜蜂在使用踪迹信息素方面的生态趋同似乎很有可能。POWRE活动的组织是为了通过行为观察、实验操作和化学分析来验证这一假设，并证明对蜜蜂中的痕迹信息素进行更大规模比较研究的可行性。POWRE拨款允许卡梅伦进行一项试点研究，以收集关键的初步数据，并让她有机会获得基本的化学分析技能，以开展扩大的比较外分泌腺研究项目。这些技能将通过在主办机构(特拉维夫大学)与昆虫化学通讯领域的一位著名科学家接触而获得。这一合作将促进我们对群居昆虫中化学交流的了解，并通过使卡梅伦博士能够最终将行为和化学生态学与正在进行的研究整合到蜜蜂社会行为的进化中，从而推进她自己的研究计划。

Animal Behavior ProgramNon-technical AbstractTitle: POWRE: Behavioral and Chemical Analyses of Trail Pheromones in the Amazonian bumble bee (Bombus transversalis)PI: Sydney A. CameronProposal #: 9973447 Social insects are endowed with complex chemical communication systems that rival the sophisticated communication systems of humans. It is well known, for instance, that foraging ants follow ground trails they chemically mark with pheromones to mediate communication with other members of the colony. The recent discovery by Dr. Cameron that a social bee in the Amazonian rain forest clears and follows trails resembling the ground trails of ants is striking because bees (and wasps) are not known to use ground trails for collecting resources. The focus of Dr. Cameron's POWRE research is to determine whether the recently discovered trail-following bees mark their trails with communication pheromones, as ants do. Ecological convergence between ants and this unusual rain forest bee in the use of trail pheromones seems quite possible. The POWRE activities are organized to test this hypothesis with behavioral observations, experimental manipulations, and chemical analyses, and to demonstrate the feasibility of a larger comparative study of trail pheromones in bees. The POWRE grant allows Dr. Cameron to conduct a pilot study to collect critical preliminary data, and affords her the opportunity to acquire the basic chemical-analytical skills required to carry on an expanded program in comparative exocrine-gland research. These skills will be acquired through contact at the host institution (Tel Aviv University) with a leading scientist in the field of chemical communication in insects. This collaboration will advance our knowledge of chemical communication in social insects and advance Dr. Cameron's own research program by enabling her to ultimately integrate behavior and chemical ecology with ongoing research into the evolution of social behavior in bees.