Physiological state influences the social interactions of two honeybee nest mates.

ABSTRACT: Physiological state profoundly influences the expression of the behaviour of individuals and can affect social interactions between animals. How physiological state influences food sharing and social behaviour in social insects is poorly understood. Here, we examined the social interactions and food sharing behaviour of honeybees with the aim of developing the honeybee as a model for understanding how an individual's state influences its social interactions. The state of individual honeybees was manipulated by either starving donor bees or feeding them sucrose or low doses of ethanol to examine how a change in hunger or inebriation state affected the social behaviours exhibited by two closely-related nestmates. Using a lab-based assay for measuring individual motor behaviour and social beh

SUBMITTER: Wright GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3302875 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature