Weak specialization of workers inside a bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) nest

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Volumn 63, Issue 12, 2009, Pages 1829-1836

  Jandt, Jennifer M ^a   Huang, Eden ^a   Dornhaus, Anna ^a  

^a The University of Arizona   (United States)

Author keywords

Bombus impatiens; Bumble bee; Division of labor; Division of labor index; Task repertoire size; Task specialization

Indexed keywords

BEE; BODY SIZE; LABOR DIVISION; NEST GUARDING; SOCIAL INSECT; SPECIALIZATION;

BOMBUS (GENUS); BOMBUS IMPATIENS; HEXAPODA; IMPATIENS;

EID: 77952674607     PISSN: 03405443     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s00265-009-0810-x     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. Alford DV (1978) The life of the bumblebee. Davis-Poynter, London.
2. Altmann J (1974) Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 49: 227-267.
3. Beshers SN, Fewell JH (2001) Models of division of labor in social insects. Annu Rev Entomol 46: 413-440.
4. Brian AD (1952) Division of labour and foraging in Bombus agrorum Fabricius. J Anim Ecol 21: 223-240.
5. Cameron SA (1989) Temporal patterns of division of labor among workers in the primitively eusocial bumble bee, Bombus griseocollis (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Ethology 80: 137-151.
6. Cameron SA, Robinson GE (1990) Juvenile hormone does not affect division of labor in bumble bee colonies (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 83: 626-631.
7. Dornhaus A (2008) Specialization does not predict individual efficiency in an ant. PLOS 6: 2368-2375.
8. Dornhaus A, Holley J-A, Franks NR (2009) Larger colonies do not have more specialized workers in the ant Temnothorax albipennis. Behav Ecol (in press).
9. Fewell JH, Page RE Jr (1999) The emergence of division of labour in forced associations of normally solitary ant queens. Evol Ecol Res 1: 537-548.
10. Free JB (1955) The division of labour within bumblebee colonies. Insect Soc 11: 195-212.
11. Gorelick R, Bertram SM, Killeen P, Fewell JH (2004) Normalized mutual entropy in biology: quantifying division of labor. Am Nat 164: 677-682.
12. Gorelick R, Bertram SM (2007) Quantifying division of labor: borrowing tools from sociology, sociobiology, information theory, landscape ecology, and biogeography. Insect Soc 54: 105-112.
13. Goulson D, Peat J, Stout JC, Tucker J, Darvill B, Derwent LC, Hughes WO (2002) Can alloethism in workers of the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, be explained in terms of foraging efficiency? Anim Behav 64: 123-130.
14. Heinrich B (1975) Thermoregulation in bumblebees II. Energetic of warm-up and free flight. J Comp Physiol 96: 155-166.
15. Heinrich B (2004) Bumblebee economics. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
16. Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1998) The ants. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
17. Jandt JM, Dornhaus A (2009) Spatial organization and division of labor in the bumble bee, Bombus impatiens. Anim Behav 77: 641-651.
18. Jeanson R, Kukuk PF, Fewell JH (2005) Emergence of division of labour in halictine bees: contributions of social interactions and behavioural variance. Anim Behav 70: 1183-1193.
19. Johnson BR (2008) Within-nest temporal polyethism in the honey bee. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62: 777-784.
20. Julian GE, Cahan S (1999) Undertaking specialization in the desert leaf-cutter ant Acromyrmex versicolor. Anim Behav 58: 437-442.
21. Lehner PN (1996) Handbook of ethological methods, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
22. Noirot C, Pasteels JM (1987) Ontogenetic development and evolution of the worker caste in termites. Experientia 43: 851-860.
23. O'Donnell S, Jeanne RL (1990) Forager specialization and the control of nest repair in Polybia occidentalis Olivier (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 27: 359-364.
24. O'Donnell S, Reichardt M, Foster R (2000) Individual and colony factors in bumble bee division of labor (Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handl; Hymenoptera, Apidae). Insect Soc 47: 164-170.
25. Raine NE, Chittka L (2007) Pollen foraging: learning a complex motor skill by bumblebees (Bombus terrestris). Naturwissenschaften 94: 459-464.
26. Robinson GE (1987) Regulation of honey bee age polyethism by juvenile hormone. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 20: 329-338.
27. Seeley TD (1982) Adaptive significance of the age polyethism schedule in honeybee colonies. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 11: 287-293. doi: 10. 1007/BF00299306.
28. Seid MA, Traniello JFA (2006) Age-related repertoire expansion and division of labor in Pheidole dentate (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a new perspective on temporal polyethism and behavioral plasticity in ants. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60: 631-644.
29. Slater PJB (1973) Describing sequences of behavior. In: Bateson PPP, Klopfer PH (eds) Perspectives in ethology, vol 1. Plenum, New York, pp 131-153.
30. Spaethe J, Brockmann A, Halbig C, Tautz J (2007) Size determines antennal sensitivity and behavioral threshold to odors in bumblebee workers. Naturwissenschaften 94: 733-739.
31. Spaethe J, Chittka L (2003) Interindividual variation of eye optics and single object resolution in bumblebees. J Exp Biol 206: 3447-3453.
32. Spaethe J, Weidenmüller A (2002) Size variation and foraging rate in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris). Insect Soc 49: 142-146.
33. Stern DL, Foster WA (1997) The evolution of sociality in aphids: a clone's-eye view. In: Choe JC, Crespi BJ (eds) The evolution of social behavior in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 150-165.
34. Withers GS, Fahrbach SE, Robinson GE (1993) Selective neuroanatomical plasticity and division of labour in the honeybee. Nature 364: 238-240.
35. Worden BD, Skemp AK, Papaj DR (2005) Learning in two contexts: the effects of interference and body size in bumblebees. J Exp Biol 208: 2045-2053.
36. Yerushalmi S, Bodenhaimer S, Bloch G (2006) Developmentally determined attenuation in circadian rhythms links chronobiology to social organization in bees. J Exp Biol 209: 1044-1051.