Individual brains, collective task: social regulation of stinging behaviour in honeybees

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Honeybees defend their nest against large predators thanks to a collective effort to harass and sting the intruder. The stinger apparatus has evolved to detach upon stinging elastic skin (such as ours) to maximize venom delivery, but the drawback is that the mutilated bee will then die within a few hours. Thus, the honeybee colony under threat has to achieve a delicate balance: enough bees need to respond that the intruder is successfully deterred, but without unnecessarily depleting the colony of its workforce. What are the mechanisms regulating the decision of each individual to engage or not into this collective response, so that this balance is reached? I propose that honeybees integrate information about the behaviour of their nestmates (social feedback) to fine tune their own response. The aim of this project is to study both the behavioural and the neurobiological bases of this regulatory mechanism. Thanks to the behavioural experiments, I will characterize the postulated social feedback and identify the sensory channels involved. In order to study the neurobiological mechanism underlying this regulation, the role of known and putative neuromodulators of honeybee aggression will be investigated. Characterization of the neurons involved will provide a starting point to unravel the neuronal circuitry mediating the stinging response of honeybees. Hence this project will address fundamental research questions and may provide new ways to help beekeepers manage this defensive response.