Octopamine modulates responsiveness to foraging-related stimuli in honey bees (Apis mellifera)

The biogenic amine neurochemical octopamine is involved in the onset of foraging behaviour in honey bees. We tested the hypothesis that octopamine influences honey bee behavioural development by modulating responsiveness to task-related stimuli. We examined the effect of octopamine treatment on resp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Comparative Physiology 2002-09, Vol.188 (8), p.603-610
Main Authors: Barron, A B, Schulz, D J, Robinson, G E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging - drug effects
Aging - physiology
Animals
Apis mellifera
Bees
Bees - drug effects
Bees - physiology
Chemical communication
Cohort Studies
Feeding Behavior - drug effects
Feeding Behavior - physiology
Female
Forage
Foraging behavior
Honey
Insects
Male
Octopamine
Octopamine - pharmacology
Octopamine - physiology
Pheromones - pharmacology
Pheromones - physiology
Reference Values
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Social Behavior
Social inhibition
Species Specificity
Stimuli
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Summary:The biogenic amine neurochemical octopamine is involved in the onset of foraging behaviour in honey bees. We tested the hypothesis that octopamine influences honey bee behavioural development by modulating responsiveness to task-related stimuli. We examined the effect of octopamine treatment on responsiveness to brood pheromone (an activator of foraging) and to the presence of older bees in the colony (an inhibitor of foraging in young bees). Octopamine treatment increased responsiveness to brood pheromone and decreased responsiveness to social inhibition. These results identify octopamine both as an important source of variation in response thresholds and as a modulator of pheromonal communication in insect societies. We speculate that octopamine plays more than one role in the organisation of behavioural development indicating a very high level of integration between the neurochemical system and the generation of complex behaviour.
ISSN:0340-7594
1432-1351
DOI:10.1007/s00359-002-0335-5