Dissertation Research: Sleep in a Society: The Behavioral Ecology of Sleep within Colonies of Insects

Mueller，UlrichKlein，Barrett Anthony NSF dDig提案编号IOS-0710142在一个社会中：昆虫群体中睡眠的行为生态睡眠是一种极大地影响生物体生活的现象，但生物学家对睡眠的各个方面知之甚少，或极大地忽视了它。睡眠的功能仍然存在疑问，很少有研究探索社会组织和个人对睡眠的需求是如何相互作用的。这项研究将解决与蜜蜂群体中睡眠的独特社会方面有关的问题。这项研究的目标包括绘制睡眠的空间图和昼夜图，并测试睡眠与沟通和获取食物有关的可能功能。研究人员将在玻璃观察箱中单独标记和检查蜜蜂，并训练蜜蜂寻找食物来源，记录蜂群内不同实验制度产生的行为。人们的期望是，睡眠地图将揭示睡眠的差异，这取决于蜜蜂的年龄或功能。此外，研究人员将测试睡眠不足的蜜蜂会表现出沟通和食物收集能力下降的假设，这表明睡眠在社会环境中的特殊重要性。这项拟议的研究将有助于揭开睡眠的神秘面纱，并促进跨行为、社会、生态、生理和医学学科的整合。许多本科生将接受这项研究的各个方面的培训，科学进步将向广泛的受众展示。睡眠是一种普遍的现象，拟议的研究方向将努力解决它与所有受众的相关性。

Mueller, UlrichKlein, Barrett AnthonyNSF DDIG proposal number IOS-0710142SLEEP IN A SOCIETY: the behavioral ecology of sleep within colonies of insectsSleep is a phenomenon that greatly impacts the lives of organisms, yet aspects of it are little understood, or greatly ignored by biologists. The very functions of sleep are still in question and few studies have explored how social organization and individual need for sleep may interact. This research will address questions relating to uniquely social aspects of sleep within colonies of honey bees (Apis mellifera). Objectives of this research include mapping sleep, spatially and through the day and night, and testing possible functions of sleep related to communication and acquisition of food. Researchers will individually mark and examine bees in glass observation hives and train bees to food sources, recording behaviors resulting from different experimental regimes within the colony. The expectation is that maps of sleep will reveal differences in sleep, depending on bees' age or function. Further, the researchers will test the hypothesis that sleep-deprived bees will show reduced communication and food collecting performance, suggestive of sleep's specific importance within a social context. The proposed research will contribute to the demystification of sleep and to promote integration across behavioral, societal, ecological, physiological, and medical disciplines. Many undergraduate students will be trained in various aspects of this research and scientific progress will be presented to a wide range of audiences. Sleep is a widespread phenomenon and the proposed research direction will strive to address its relevance across all audiences.