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The scent of the waggle dance
Corinna Thom1, David C Gilley, Judith Hooper
1Arizona Research Laboratories, Division of Neurobiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
Plos Biology
|August 24, 2007
Summary
Honey bee waggle dancers release specific alkanes and alkenes into the air. These airborne chemicals, or semiochemicals, signal profitable food sources and recruit other bees, revealing a new dimension in honey bee foraging.
Area of Science:
- Animal Behavior
- Chemical Ecology
- Insect Communication
Background:
- Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) use the waggle dance to communicate food source locations.
- The precise mechanisms and chemical signals involved in this communication are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify airborne chemicals produced by waggle-dancing honey bees.
- To investigate the role of these chemicals in recruiting nest mates to food sources.
Main Methods:
- Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were employed.
- Analysis focused on volatile compounds released by dancing versus non-dancing bees.
Main Results:
- Waggle-dancing bees release significant quantities of two alkanes (tricosane, pentacosane) and two alkenes (Z-(9)-tricosene, Z-(9)-pentacosene).
- Nondancing foragers produced these compounds in minute amounts.
- Introducing these scents increased the number of bees exiting the hive.
Conclusions:
- The identified alkanes and alkenes function as semiochemicals in honey bee worker recruitment.
- Honey bee waggle dancers produce and release behaviorally active chemicals, adding a new dimension to foraging communication.
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