MECHANISMS OF TASK FLEXIBIITY IN HONEY BEES

蜜蜂任务灵活性的机制

• 批准号: 3476130
• 负责人: JENNIFER H FEWELL
• 金额: $ 10.6万
• 依托单位: ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1993
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1993-07-01 至 1998-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3476130
• 关键词: Hymenoptera; age difference; animal age group; animal colony; behavioral genetics; ethology; natural selections; performance; social behavior

Division of labor is a fundamental component of complex social systems, in groups as diverse as insects and mammals. In all social groups, division of labor involves specialization by individuals on certain tasks. However, for division of labor to function in a variable environment, it must allow for changes in task performance. In honey bees, Apis mellifera, task specialization depends on: (1) age polyethism, with individuals of different age groups performing different tasks within a colony, and (2) genetically-based individual preference for certain tasks. The long-term objective of this project is to determine the mechanisms for individual and societal task regulation in honey bees. More specifically, it will examine mechanisms for and constraints on individual flexibility in foraging behavior, and determine how individual variation in task performance is integrated into colony-level regulation of foraging. The project will use a variety of behavioral and genetic techniques, including use of instrumental insemination to construct honey bee colonies containing a variety of worker genotypes, and allozyme electrophoresis and DNA analyses (RAPD markers) to identify genetic subfamilies within colonies. Three principle questions will be addressed: (1) What are the relative contributions of individual flexibility and genotypic diversity to colony-level foraging plasticity?, (2) How do genetic and developmental constraints on individual behavioral flexibility constrain foraging behavior at the colony level?, and (3) How well do models of foraging flexibility developed using domesticated honey bee colonies predict the behavior of social groups under conditions of natural selection? This study will provide information crucial to understanding the evolution of division of labor in complex social systems, and mechanisms of behavioral flexibility in social insect colonies.

分工是复杂社会系统的基本组成部分 昆虫和哺乳动物等不同的群体。 在各个社会群体中， 劳动分工涉及个人在某些方面的专业化 任务。 然而，为了使分工在变量中发挥作用 环境，它必须允许任务性能的变化。 蜂蜜中 蜜蜂，Apis mellifera，任务专业化取决于：（1）年龄多民族性， 不同年龄段的人执行不同的任务 在一个群体内，以及（2）基于遗传的个体偏好 某些任务。 该项目的长期目标是确定 蜜蜂个体和社会任务调节机制。 更具体地说，它将审查机制和限制 个体觅食行为的灵活性，并决定个体如何 任务表现的变化被纳入群体水平的调节中 的觅食。 该项目将使用各种行为和遗传技术， 包括使用仪器授精来培育蜜蜂 含有多种工人基因型和等位酶的菌落 电泳和 DNA 分析（RAPD 标记）来鉴定遗传 群体内的亚科。 三个原则问题将 解决：（1）个人的相对贡献是什么？ 灵活性和基因型多样性对群体水平觅食可塑性的影响？ (2) 遗传和发育如何制约个体行为 灵活性限制了群体水平的觅食行为？以及（3）如何 使用驯化蜂蜜开发的觅食灵活性模型做得很好 蜂群在以下条件下预测社会群体的行为 自然选择？这项研究将提供至关重要的信息 了解复杂社会中劳动分工的演变 社会性昆虫行为灵活性的系统和机制 殖民地。