The honeybee (Apis mellifera) detects bilateral symmetry and discriminates its axis

Thermal learning in the honeybee, Apis mellifera.

Honeybee foragers are exposed to thermal stimuli when collecting food outside and receiving food rewards inside the nest. In both contexts, there is an opportunity for foragers to associate warmth with food rewards. However, honeybee thermal learning is poorly understood. Using an associative learning paradigm (the proboscis extension reflex), we show that honeybees can learn to associate a nec...

Resonance frequencies of honeybee (Apis mellifera) wings.

During flight, insect wings bend and twist under the influence of aerodynamic and inertial forces. We tested whether wing resonance of honeybees (Apis mellifera) matches the wingbeat frequency, against the 'stiff element' hypothesis that the wing's first longitudinal mode exceeds the wingbeat frequency. Six bees were immobilized with their right wing pair outspread, and stimulated with a shaker...

Circadian rhythmicity and olfactory learning in the honeybee Apis mellifera

Hygropreference and brood care in the honeybee (Apis mellifera).

Terrestrial organisms need to limit evaporation from their bodies in order to maintain a homeostatic water balance. Owing to a large surface to volume ratio, arthropods are particularly susceptible to desiccation and have evolved behavioural and physiological mechanisms to conserve water. In social insects, water balance is also affected by the interactions between nestmates and by the architec...

Proprioceptors involved in stinging response of the honeybee, Apis mellifera.

Two types of mechanosensitive proprioceptor organ are present on the stinging apparatus of the honeybee: campaniform sensilla and mechanosensory hairplates. The campaniform sensilla are located on the surface of the tapering sting-shaft, which comprises an unpaired stylet and paired lancets. Each sensillum on the lancet differs from that on the stylet in terms of their topography and external m...