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Worker-worker inhibition of honey bee behavioural development independent of queen and brood

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Summary.

Foragers inhibit the behavioural development of young adult worker honey bees, delaying the age at onset of foraging. But the similar effect caused by pheromones produced by both the queen and brood raised the possibility that some of the previously attributed forager effects might be due to queen, brood, or both. Here we studied whether physical contacts between young bees and old foragers can inhibit behavioural development while controlling for queen and brood effects. Results demonstrated that foragers inhibit the behavioural development of young adult worker bees independent of the queen and brood, via a mechanism that requires physical contact.

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Author notes

  1. I. Leoncini

    Present address: CNRS UMR 6552, Université de Rennes I, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042, Rennes Cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Biologie et Protection de l’abeille, UMR INRA/UAPV Ecologie des Invertébrés, Site Agroparc, Domaine Saint-Paul, 84914, Avignon Cedex 9, France

    I. Leoncini, D. Crauser & Y. Le Conte

  2. Department of Entomology, and Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    G. E. Robinson

Authors
  1. I. Leoncini
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  2. D. Crauser
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  3. G. E. Robinson
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  4. Y. Le Conte
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to I. Leoncini.

Additional information

Received 24 November 2003; revised 27 March 2004; accepted 21 April 2004.

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Leoncini, I., Crauser, D., Robinson, G.E. et al. Worker-worker inhibition of honey bee behavioural development independent of queen and brood. Insect. Soc. 51, 392–394 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-004-0757-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-004-0757-x

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