TY  - JOUR
A1  - Scheiner, Ricarda
A1  - Toteva, Anna
A1  - Reim, Tina
A1  - Sovik, Eirik
A1  - Barron, Andrew B.
T1  - Differences in the phototaxis of pollen and nectar foraging honey bees are related to their octopamine brain titers
JF  - Frontiers in physiology
N2  - The biogenic amine octopamine is an important neuromodulator, neurohormone and neurotransmitter in insects. We here investigate the role of octopamine signaling in honey bee phototaxis. Our results show that groups of bees differ naturally in their phototaxis. Pollen forgers display a lower light responsiveness than nectar foragers. The lower phototaxis of pollen foragers coincides with higher octopamine titers in the optic lobes but is independent of octopamine receptor gene expression. Increasing octopamine brain titers reduces responsiveness to light, while tyramine application enhances phototaxis. These findings suggest an involvement of octopamine signaling in honey bee phototaxis and possibly division of labor, which is hypothesized to be based on individual differences in sensory responsiveness.
KW  - biogenic amines
KW  - tyramine
KW  - division of labor
KW  - honey bee
KW  - light responsiveness
KW  - insect
KW  - behavior
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.00116
SN  - 1664-042X
VL  - 5
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Blenau, Wolfgang
A1  - Scheiner, Ricarda
A1  - Plückhahn, Stephanie
A1  - Oney, Bahar
A1  - Erber, Joachim
T1  - Behavioural pharmacology of octopamine, tyramine and dopamine in honey bees
N2  - In the honey bee, responsiveness to sucrose correlates with many behavioural parameters such as age of first foraging, foraging role and learning. Sucrose responsiveness can be measured using the proboscis extension response (PER) by applying sucrose solutions of increasing concentrations to the antenna of a bee. We tested whether the biogenic amines octopamine, tyramine and dopamine, and the dopamine receptor agonist 2-amino-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (6,7-ADTN) can modulate sucrose responsiveness. The compounds were either injected into the thorax or fed in sucrose solution to compare different methods of application. Injection and feeding of tyramine or octopamine significantly increased sucrose responsiveness. Dopamine decreased sucrose responsiveness when injected into the thorax. Feeding of dopamine had no effect. Injection of 6,7-ADTN into the thorax and feeding of 6,7-ADTN reduced sucrose responsiveness significantly. These data demonstrate that sucrose responsiveness in honey bees can be modulated by biogenic amines, which has far reaching consequences for other types of behaviour in this insect. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
KW  - Honey bee
KW  - insect
KW  - proboscis extension response
KW  - sucrose responsiveness
KW  - biogenic amines
Y1  - 2002
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-44308
ER  -