scholarly journals Olfactory Learning in the Stingless Bee Melipona eburnea Friese (Apidae: Meliponini)

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisol Amaya-Márquez ◽  
Sergio Tusso ◽  
Juan Hernández ◽  
Juan Darío Jiménez ◽  
Harrington Wells ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unconditioned Stimulus ◽  
Stingless Bees ◽  
Olfactory Learning ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Taste Receptors ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Adaptive Traits ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Cognition And Learning ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Olfactory learning and floral scents are co-adaptive traits in the plant–pollinator relationship. However, how scent relates to cognition and learning in the diverse group of Neotropical stingless bees is largely unknown. Here we evaluated the ability of Melipona eburnea to be conditioned to scent using the proboscis extension reflex (PER) protocol. Stingless bees did not show PER while harnessed but were able to be PER conditioned to scent when free-to-move in a mini-cage (fmPER). We evaluated the effect of: 1) unconditioned stimulus (US) reward, and 2) previous scent–reward associations on olfactory learning performance. When using unscented-US, PER-responses were low on day 1, but using scented-US reward the olfactory PER-response increased on day 1. On day 2 PER performance greatly increased in bees that previously had experienced the same odor and reward combination, while bees that experienced a different odor on day 2 showed poor olfactory learning. Bees showed higher olfactory PER conditioning to guava than to mango odor. The effect of the unconditioned stimulus reward was not a significant factor in the model on day 2. This indicates that olfactory learning performance can increase via either taste receptors or accumulated experience with the same odor. Our results have application in agriculture and pollination ecology.

scholarly journals Lateralization of visual learning in the honeybee

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar Letzkus ◽  
Norbert Boeddeker ◽  
Jeff T Wood ◽  
Shao-Wu Zhang ◽  
Mandyam V Srinivasan
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Visual Learning ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Olfactory Learning ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Lateralization is a well-described phenomenon in humans and other vertebrates and there are interesting parallels across a variety of different vertebrate species. However, there are only a few studies of lateralization in invertebrates. In a recent report, we showed lateralization of olfactory learning in the honeybee ( Apis mellifera ). Here, we investigate lateralization of another sensory modality, vision. By training honeybees on a modified version of a visual proboscis extension reflex task, we find that bees learn a colour stimulus better with their right eye.

scholarly journals Apis mellifera bees acquire long-term olfactory memories within the colony

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Gil ◽  
Rodrigo J De Marco
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Conditioned Stimulus ◽  
Unconditioned Stimulus ◽  
Olfactory Learning ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Learning Performances

Early studies indicate that Apis mellifera bees learn nectar odours within their colonies. This form of olfactory learning, however, has not been analysed by measuring well-quantifiable learning performances and the question remains whether it constitutes a ‘robust’ form of learning. Hence, we asked whether bees acquire long-term olfactory memories within the colony. To this end, we used the bee proboscis extension response. We found that within-the-nest bees do indeed associate the odour (as the conditioned stimulus) with the sugar (as the unconditioned stimulus) present in the incoming nectar, and that the distribution of scented nectar within the colony allows them to establish long-term olfactory memories. This finding is discussed in the context of efficient foraging.

scholarly journals New method to Proboscis Extension Reflex to the assessment of gustatory responses for stingless bees

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Cornélio Ferreira Nocelli ◽  
Clara Tavares Lourenço ◽  
Sandra Eloisi Denardi- Gheller ◽  
Osmar Malaspina ◽  
Andrigo Monroe Pereira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stingless Bees ◽  
New Method ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Triggering the proboscis extension reflex (PER) in Rhodnius prolixus

2021 ◽  
pp. 104249
Author(s):  
Raquel A. Ferreira ◽  
Marcelo G. Lorenzo ◽  
Claudio R. Lazzari
Keyword(s):  
Rhodnius Prolixus ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Proboscis Extension

scholarly journals Spatial odor discrimination in hawkmoth, Manduca sexta (L.)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Kalyanasundaram ◽  
M. A. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Manduca Sexta ◽  
Flight Control ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
Odor Learning ◽  
Odor Plumes ◽  
Proboscis Extension

AbstractFlying insects track turbulent odor plumes to find mates, food and egg-laying sites. To maintain contact with the plume, insects are thought to adapt their flight control according to the distribution of odor in the plume using the timing of odor onsets and intervals between odor encounters. Although timing cues are important, few studies have addressed whether insects are capable of deriving spatial information about odor distribution from bilateral comparisons between their antennae in flight. The proboscis extension reflex (PER) associative learning protocol, originally developed to study odor learning in honeybees, was modified to show hawkmoths, Manduca sexta, can discriminate between odor stimuli arriving on either antenna. We show moths discriminated the odor arrival side with an accuracy of >70%. The information about spatial distribution of odor stimuli is thus available to moths searching for odor sources, opening the possibility that they use both spatial and temporal odor information.

scholarly journals CCAP regulates feeding behavior via the NPF pathway in Drosophila adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (13) ◽  
pp. 7401-7408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Williams ◽  
Mehwish Akram ◽  
Deimante Barkauskaite ◽  
Sourabh Patil ◽  
Eirini Kotsidou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
The Other ◽  
Regulatory Role ◽  
Food Cues ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Starvation Conditions

The intake of macronutrients is crucial for the fitness of any animal and is mainly regulated by peripheral signals to the brain. How the brain receives and translates these peripheral signals or how these interactions lead to changes in feeding behavior is not well-understood. We discovered that 2 crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP)-expressing neurons in Drosophila adults regulate feeding behavior and metabolism. Notably, loss of CCAP, or knocking down the CCAP receptor (CCAP-R) in 2 dorsal median neurons, inhibits the release of neuropeptide F (NPF), which regulates feeding behavior. Furthermore, under starvation conditions, flies normally have an increased sensitivity to sugar; however, loss of CCAP, or CCAP-R in 2 dorsal median NPF neurons, inhibited sugar sensitivity in satiated and starved flies. Separate from its regulation of NPF signaling, the CCAP peptide also regulates triglyceride levels. Additionally, genetic and optogenetic studies demonstrate that CCAP signaling is necessary and sufficient to stimulate a reflexive feeding behavior, the proboscis extension reflex (PER), elicited when external food cues are interpreted as palatable. Dopaminergic signaling was also sufficient to induce a PER. On the other hand, although necessary, NPF neurons were not able to induce a PER. These data illustrate that the CCAP peptide is a central regulator of feeding behavior and metabolism in adult flies, and that NPF neurons have an important regulatory role within this system.

scholarly journals Diversity and Nesting Substrates of Stingless Bees (Hymenoptera, Meliponina) in a Forest Remnant

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estefane Nascimento Leoncini Siqueira ◽  
Bruno Ferreira Bartelli ◽  
André Rosalvo Terra Nascimento ◽  
Fernanda Helena Nogueira-Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Stingless Bees ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Site Survey ◽  
Forest Remnant ◽  
Main Host ◽  
Nesting Sites ◽  
Reproductive Division ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Stingless bees are abundant and diverse key actors in several plant-pollinator networks in the neotropics, but little is known about their natural history and ecology. This study aims to contribute to knowledge about the diversity and dispersion of stingless bees and discusses the importance of nesting substrates. It was carried out in the Araguari river valley in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where a nest site survey was conducted in an area of 100 ha during 11 alternate months from 2006 to 2008, for a total of 1,200 observation hours. Sixty-nine nests were found, belonging to 12 genera and 20 different species. Nests ofMelipona rufiventriswere by far the most abundant. Stingless bees nested more frequently in hollows of live trees (64%), and 11 different substrates were identified. Seventeen plant species were used as nesting substrates andAnadenanthera macrocarpa(Fabaceae) was the main host, encompassing 23% of the surveyed nests. The area studied is important for the maintenance of stingless bees because it provides nesting sites for them. Without nesting sites the reproductive division of colonies is compromised, affecting the nests' survival.

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