BIODEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS OF SOCIAL EVOLUTION IN THE HONEY BEE

本研究的目的是探讨社会进化对蜜蜂（Apis mellifera L）衰老和死亡模式的影响。社会对衰老影响的研究很大程度上仅限于对人类的研究，这些研究的实验方法必然有限。社会性昆虫群体是复杂的适应性系统，代表了一个主要的进化转变。它们允许在生物组织的不同层次上研究衰老，包括社会单位，个体，生理过程及其相互作用。蜜蜂已经是许多生物学科的模型，因此将构成衰老研究的重要社会模型生物。第一个目的是调查蜜蜂寿命的社会决定因素，特别是解决以下问题：a）个人（遗传）属性和社会环境对个人寿命的相对贡献是什么？B）群体人口统计学（群体规模和年龄构成）如何影响个体寿命？育雏护理（代际转移）如何影响寿命？这些问题中的每一个都将在一系列实验中得到解决，这些实验涉及广泛的殖民地操作和人口统计调查，多个焦点队列的特定年龄生存措施，以及个人和殖民地资源分配的直接措施。数据将进行分析，以验证与该计划项目中的其他合作者一起并行的理论进展。 第二个目的是确定蜜蜂行为衰老的不同组成部分 工人蜜蜂的觅食能力随着年龄的增长而下降。将研究老年人感觉（嗅觉、味觉、视觉反应）和运动（飞行和运动）系统的退化。此外，还将研究认知能力（学习和记忆）和招募行为（舞蹈克里思）等高阶过程的年龄效应。将对不同年龄组的蜜蜂觅食者进行完善的行为测定。行为衰老和生理测量的各种措施之间的潜在联系将被调查，衰老对社会组织的作用将被仔细审查。

The objective of this research project is to investigate the effects of social evolution on aging and mortality patterns in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L). The study of social influences on aging is largely restricted to investigations on humans that have a necessarily limited experimental approach. Social insect colonies are complex adaptive systems representing one of the major evolutionary transitions. They allow studies of aging at different levels of biological organization including the social unit, the individual, physiological processes, and their interactions. Already a model in a number of biological disciplines, the honey bee thus will constitute an important, social model organism for aging research. The first aim is to investigate social determinants of honey bee lifespan, specifically addressing the following questions: a) What are the relative contributions of individual (genetic) properties and social environment to individual lifespan? b) How do group demographics (group size and age composition) affect individual lifespan? How does brood care (intergenerational transfer) influence lifespan? Each of these questions will be addressed in a series of experiments that involve extensive colony manipulations and demographic surveys, age-specific survival measures of multiple, focal cohorts, and direct measures of resource allocation in individuals and colonies. The data will be analyzed to validate concurrent theoretical advances in conjunction with other collaborators in the program project. The second aim is to determine different components of behavioral senescence in honey bee workers. Honey bee foraging performance declines with age. Deterioration of sensory (olfactory, gustatory, visual responsiveness), and motor (flight and locomotion) systems at advanced ages will be studied. Furthermore, higher-order processes such as cognitive abilities (learning and memory) and recruitment behavior (dance tempo) will be investigated for age effects. Honey bee foragers of different age classes will be subjected to well-established behavioral assays. Potential links between the various measures of behavioral senescence and physiological measurements will be investigated, and the role of senescence for societal organization will be scrutinized.