Guard bees are more likely to act as undertakers: variation in corpse removal in the bumble bee Bombus impatiens

Autor: Alexander Walton, Anna Dornhaus, Jennifer M. Jandt
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Insectes Sociaux. 66:533-541
ISSN: 1420-9098
0020-1812
Popis: Task specialization is one of the distinguishing features of social insect colony organization. Here we study the task of corpse removal (‘undertaking’) from the nest in three Bombus impatiens colonies. We determine (1) which task these bees perform when corpses are absent from the nest; (2) the degree to which worker body size relates to undertaking behavior; and (3) whether certain bees are more likely to completely remove corpses (i.e., are better undertakers)? We found that only ~ 31% of the workers in a colony participated in corpse removal even when corpses were abundant (and only ~ 12% participated in more than one trial, i.e., were “repeat undertakers”). Larger bees, and those that engaged in guarding tasks when corpses were absent, were more likely to perform undertaking. In addition, repeat undertakers, who were not necessarily larger than one-trial undertakers, were more successful at removing corpses and invested more effort per trial. Overall, our results are consistent with the interpretation that workers who are more likely to engage in guarding tasks (who also tend to be larger and patrol throughout the nest) may be more vigilant and sensitive to changes in the chemical nature of the nest, and so will also perform undertaking when it becomes necessary.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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