IFAB   27864
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES FORESTALES Y AGROPECUARIAS BARILOCHE
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Honeybees generalize among pollen scents from plants flowering in the same seasonal period
Autor/es:
REQUIER, FABRICE; HUERTA, GUILLERMO; FERNÁNDEZ-ARHEX, VALERIA; GUERRIERI, FERNANDO; PIETRANTUONO, ANA LAURA; WINTER, JOSEFINA
Revista:
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Editorial:
COMPANY OF BIOLOGISTS LTD
Referencias:
Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2019
ISSN:
0022-0949
Resumen:
When honey bees (Apis mellifera) feed on flowers, they extend theirproboscis to absorb the nectar, i.e. they perform the proboscisextension response (PER). The presence of pollen and/or nectar canbe associated with odors, colors or visual patterns, which allowshoney bees to recognize food sources in the environment. Honeybees can associate similar, though different, stimuli with the presenceof food; i.e. honey bees discriminate and generalize among stimuli.Here, we evaluated generalization among pollen scents from sixdifferent plant species. Experiments were based on the PERconditioning protocol over two phases: (1) conditioning, in whichhoney bees associated the scent of each pollen type with sucrose,and (2) test, in which honey bees were presented with a novel scent,to evaluate generalization. Generalization was evinced by honeybees extending their proboscis to a novel scent. The level of PERincreased over the course of the conditioning phase for all pollenscents. Honey bees generalized pollen from Pyracantha coccineaand from Hypochaeris radicata. These two plants have differentamounts of protein and are not taxonomically related. We observedthat the flowering period influences the olfactory perceptual similarityand we suggest that both pollen types may share volatile compoundsthat play key roles in perception. Our results highlight the importanceof analyzing the implications of the generalization between pollentypes of different nutritional quality. Such studies could providevaluable information for beekeepers and agricultural producers, asthe generalization of a higher quality pollen can benefit hivedevelopment, and increase pollination and honey production.