JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
·
2014
·Vol. 217
·期 19
·3512-3518
·
IF 3.002
Li Jianjun,Wang Zhengwei,Tan Ken,Qu Yufeng,Nieh James C.
Social pollinators such as honey bees face attacks from predators not only at the nest, but also during foraging. Pollinating honey bees can therefore release alarm pheromones that deter conspecifics from visiting dangerous inflorescences. However, the effect of alarm pheromone and its chemical components upon bee avoidance of dangerous food sources remains unclear. We tested the responses of giant honey bee foragers, Apis dorsata , presented with alarm pheromone at a floral array. Foragers investigated the inflorescence with natural alarm pheromone, but 3.3-fold more foragers preferred to land on the ‘safe’ inflorescence without alarm pheromone. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis, we identified eight chemical components in the alarm pheromone, of which three components (1-octanol, decanal and gamma-octanoic lactone) have not previously been reported in this species. We bioassayed six major compounds and found that a synthetic mixture of these compounds elicited behaviors statistically indistinguishable from responses to natural alarm pheromone. By testing each compound separately, we show that gamma-octanoic lactone, isopentyl acetate and (E)-2-decen-1-yl acetate are active compounds that elicit significant alarm responses. Gamma-octanoic lactone elicited the strongest response to a single compound and has not been previously reported in honey bee alarm pheromone. Isopentyl acetate is widely found in the alarm pheromones of sympatric Asian honey bee species, and thus alarmed A. dorsata foragers may produce information useful for conspecifics and heterospecifics, thereby broadening the effects of alarm information on plant pollination.
研究领域:
昆虫学
·
化学生态学
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
Insects
·
2024
·Vol. 15
·期 7
·548
·
IF 2.7
Mingtao Li,Jie Liu,Shunan Chen,Jun Yao,Lei Shi,Hang Chen,Xiaoming Chen
Simple SummaryThe butterflyByasa hedistusexhibits strong volatiles but shows no significant differences in color and shape. We analyzed the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and tested the visual and olfactory behavioral responses ofB. hedistusduring foraging and courtship. The effects of colors and VOCs on the foraging and courtship ofB. hedistusare discussed. This study enhances our understanding of how male and female butterflies of similar coloration use different signals for foraging and courtship.AbstractColor and odor are crucial cues for butterflies during foraging and courtship. While most sexual dimorphic butterflies rely more on vision, our understanding of how butterflies with similar coloration use different signals remains limited. This study investigated the visual and olfactory behavioral responses of the similarly colored butterflyByasa hedistusduring foraging and courtship. While visiting artificial flowers of different colors, we found thatB. hedistusexhibits an innate color preference, with a sequence of preferences for red, purple, and blue. The frequency of flower visits byB. hedistussignificantly increased when honey water was sprayed on the artificial flowers, but it hardly visited apetalous branches with honey water. This proves that locating nectar sources by odor alone is difficult in the absence of floral color guides. During courtship, males are active while females hardly chase; only two models were observed: males chasing males and males chasing females. The courtship process includes four behaviors: slowing approach, straight chasing, hovering, and spinning.B. hedistuscannot distinguish between sexes based on color, as there is no significant difference in color and shape between them. Twenty-three VOCs (>1%) were identified inB. hedistus, with 21 shared by both sexes, while ketones are specific to males. These VOCs are principally represented by cineole, β-pinene, and linalool. When cineole was added to butterfly mimics, many butterflies were attracted to them, but the butterflies did not seem to distinguish between males and females. This suggests that cineole may be the feature VOC for identifying conspecific groups. Adding β-pinene and linalool to mimics induced numerous butterflies to chase, hover, spin around, and attempt to mate with them. This suggests that β-pinene and linalool are crucial cues indicating the presence of females.
研究领域:
昆虫学
·
行为生态学
·
化学生态学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
CURRENT BIOLOGY
·
2025
·
IF 7.5
Mingmin Zhou,Meijun Zheng,Xiaohang Zhang,Xin Liu,Jing Guo,Xichu Cao,Aike Guo,Yan Li
Animals display rhythmic foraging behavior synchronized with the Earth’s 24-h cycle. However, the underlying neural mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, we found that one group of olfactory inhibitory projection neurons (iPNs) in Drosophila , called mlPN3, exhibits circadian responses to food odor and plays an essential role in promoting rhythmic foraging. We show that this circadian activity of mlPN3 neurons is driven by a rhythmic inhibition from a group of dopaminergic neurons (DANs), PAM-β'2. Furthermore, PAM-β'2 DANs are activated in the early morning by a group of circadian neurons, called morning cells, through pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) neuropeptide. Suppressing either PAM-β'2 DANs or morning cells impairs morning foraging, which is fully rescued by inhibiting mlPN3 neurons. Together, our findings show that the constant inhibition on foraging behavior of these iPNs is lifted by the circadian signal through dopaminergic suppression, providing critical insights into the function of the disinhibition circuit in circadian regulation.
研究领域:
神经科学
·
时间生物学
·
行为遗传学
✓ 已验证
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）