Stingless Bees Use Terpenes as Olfactory Cues to Find Resin Sources

Sara Leonhardt; S Zeihofer; N Bluthgen; T Schmitt

doi:10.1093/chemse/bjq058

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Stingless Bees Use Terpenes as Olfactory Cues to Find Resin Sources

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Stingless Bees Use Terpenes as Olfactory Cues to Find Resin Sources

Sara Leonhardt, S Zeihofer, N Bluthgen and T Schmitt

Chemical Senses, Vol.35(7), pp.603-611

2010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjq058

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Abstract

Zoology

resin

olfactory cues

stingless bees

terpenes

Insects largely rely on olfactory cues when seeking and judging information on nests, partners, or resources. Bees are known to use volatile compounds-besides visual cues-to find flowers suitable for pollen and nectar collection. Tropical stingless bees additionally collect large amounts of plant resins for nest construction, nest maintenance, nest defense, and to derive chemical constituents for their cuticular profiles. We here demonstrate that stingless bees of Borneo also use olfactory cues to find tree resins. They rely on volatile mono- and sesquiterpenes to locate or recognize known resin sources. Moreover, by modifying resin extracts, we found that stingless bees do not use the entire resin bouquet but relative proportions of several terpenes. In doing so, the bees are able to learn specific tree resin profiles and distinguish between tree species and partly even tree individuals.

Details

Title: Stingless Bees Use Terpenes as Olfactory Cues to Find Resin Sources
Authors: Sara Leonhardt (Author) - University of Würzburg, Germany
S Zeihofer (Author) - University of Freiburg, Germany
N Bluthgen (Author) - University of Würzburg, Germany
T Schmitt (Author) - University of Freiburg, Germany
Publication details: Chemical Senses, Vol.35(7), pp.603-611
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date published: 2010
DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjq058
ISSN: 0379-864X
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99449906002621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Behavioral Sciences; Food Science & Technology; Neurosciences; Physiology

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