Honey Bee Division of Labor: A Behavioral-Genetic Analysis

动物社会的组织可能会受到其遗传结构的影响。佩奇博士将用群居昆虫来测试这一社会行为原理。群居昆虫生活在地球上一些最复杂的群体中。他将确定一群蜜蜂的基因组成是否会影响昆虫社会组织最显著的特征之一--工人之间的劳动分工。蜜蜂是研究蜂群组织遗传基础的理想物种，因为它表现出精细的分工，而且由于蜂王的一夫多妻制交配行为，它的蜂群在遗传上是多样化的。对于蜜蜂来说，培育和实验操作的方法是独一无二的，这使得对行为遗传学的研究特别彻底。佩奇博士的研究旨在确定工蜂之间的分工差异是否有遗传基础，如果有，则描述遗传和环境影响对工蜂行为的相对重要性。两种基因技术将首次应用于劳动分工的研究。首先，将在带有生化遗传标记的蜜蜂群体中检查克隆内遗传变异对劳动分工的影响。第二，将进行人工选择计划，以产生不同倾向于专攻一项任务的蜜蜂品系；这些品系将被用作探针，研究影响任务绩效的遗传和环境决定因素之间的相互作用。这项研究的主要意义在于，它可能为昆虫社会的研究开辟一个新的方向，因为长期以来人们一直认为，工人行为的差异是由环境决定的。这项研究还提供了一个很好的机会来分析动物行为的遗传和环境决定因素，因为它将有可能对遗传和环境条件进行异常精确的控制。

The organization of an animal society may be influenced by its genetic structure. Dr. Page will test this principle of social behavior with social insects, which live in some of the most complex colonies on earth. He will determine whether or not genetic composition of a colony of honey bees influences one of the most prominent traits of insect social organization, the division of labor among workers. The honey bee is an ideal species for studying the genetic basis of colony organization because it exhibits an elaborate division of labor, and because its colonies are genetically diverse, due to the polygamous mating behavior of queens. Methods of culturing and experimental manipulation are uniquely available for honey bees, allowing especially thorough study of behavioral genetics. Dr. Page's research is designed to determine whether or not differences in division of labor among worker honey bees have a genetic basis, and, if so, to delineate the relative importance of both genetic and environmental influences on worker behavior. Two genetic techniques will be applied to the study of division of labor for the first time. First, the effect of intracolonial genetic variation on the division of labor will be examined in colonies of bees bearing biochemical genetic markers. Second, a program of artificial selection will be conducted to produce lines of bees that differ in the tendency to specialize on one task; these lines will be used as probes to study the interactions between genetic and environmental determinants of task performance. The principal significance of this research is that it may chart a new direction for the study of the insect societies, because it has long been thought that differences in worker behavior are determined by the environment. This study also provides an excellent opportunity to analyze the genetic and environmental determinants of behavior in an animal displaying a rich behavioral repertoire, because it will be possible to exert unusually precise control over both genetic and environmental conditions.