QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online September 9, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 3581-3591 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01776

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JEB Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Darveau, C.-A. Articles by Suarez, R. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Darveau, C.-A. Articles by Suarez, R. K.

Allometric scaling of flight energetics in Panamanian orchid bees: a comparative phylogenetic approach

Charles-A. Darveau¹, Peter W. Hochachka^1,,*, Kenneth C. Welch, Jr², David W. Roubik³ and Raul K. Suarez²

¹ Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4
² Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9610, USA
³ Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: darveau{at}zoology.ubc.ca)

Accepted 6 July 2005

The relationship between body size and flight energetics was studied in the clade of tropical orchid bees, in order to investigate energy metabolism and evolution. Body mass, which varied from 47 to 1065 mg, was found to strongly affect hovering flight mass-specific metabolic rates, which ranged from 114 ml CO₂ h^-1 g^-1 in small species to 37 ml CO₂ h^-1 g^-1 in large species. Similar variation of wingbeat frequency in hovering flight occurred among small to large species, and ranged from 250 to 86 Hz. The direct relationship between such traits was studied by the comparative method of phylogenetically independent contrasts (PIC), using a new molecular phylogeny generated from the cytochrome b gene partial sequences. We found wingbeat frequency variation is satisfactorily explained by variation in wing loading, after corrections for body mass and phylogeny. The correlated evolution of mass-specific metabolic rate, wingbeat frequency and wing loading was also revealed after correcting for phylogeny and body mass. Further, the effect of body size on flight energetics can be understood in terms of a relationship between wing form and kinematics, which directly influence and explain the scaling of metabolic rate in this group of bees.

Key words: metabolic rate, evolution, allometry, wingbeat frequency, wing loading, phylogenetically independent contrasts, orchid bee

Related articles in JEB:

BUSY BEES

Yfke van Bergen
JEB 2005 208: i. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Hrncir, A.-I. Gravel, D. L. P. Schorkopf, V. M. Schmidt, R. Zucchi, and F. G. Barth Thoracic vibrations in stingless bees (Melipona seminigra): resonances of the thorax influence vibrations associated with flight but not those associated with sound production J. Exp. Biol., March 1, 2008; 211(5): 678 - 685. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. van Bergen BUSY BEES J. Exp. Biol., September 15, 2005; 208(18): i - i. [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. K. Suarez, C.-A. Darveau, K. C. Welch Jr., D. M. O'Brien, D. W. Roubik, and P. W. Hochachka Energy metabolism in orchid bee flight muscles: carbohydrate fuels all J. Exp. Biol., September 15, 2005; 208(18): 3573 - 3579. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C.-A. Darveau, P. W. Hochachka, D. W. Roubik, and R. K. Suarez Allometric scaling of flight energetics in orchid bees: evolution of flux capacities and flux rates J. Exp. Biol., September 15, 2005; 208(18): 3593 - 3602. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. K. Suarez, C.-A. Darveau, and P. W. Hochachka Roles of hierarchical and metabolic regulation in the allometric scaling of metabolism in Panamanian orchid bees J. Exp. Biol., September 15, 2005; 208(18): 3603 - 3607. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]