social insects
- Shift in worker physiology and gene expression pattern from reproductive to diapause-like with colony age in the bumble bee Bombus impatiens
Summary: Bumblebee workers exhibit a physiological signature (innate to workers, queen or the colony) corresponding to colony age with a shift towards a diapause-like profile in late-eclosing workers.
- Division of labor in honey bees is associated with transcriptional regulatory plasticity in the brain
Summary: Bioinformatics, RNAi and behavioral assays reveal that plasticity in the regulatory relationships between transcription factors and target genes is associated with social behavior, social context and endocrine state.
- Genetic accommodation and the role of ancestral plasticity in the evolution of insect eusociality
Summary: Social insects are excellent models for studying phenotypic plasticity. We review issues associated with understanding the genetics of plasticity-first evolution and outline an empirical approach to help advance this field.
- Antibacterial activity of male and female sperm-storage organs in ants
Highlighted Article: Male and female sperm-storage organs display different antibacterial activity in ants. This activity varies over time in females after mating, allowing long-term storage of sperm cells free of bacteria.
- Transcriptomic analysis of instinctive and learned reward-related behaviors in honey bees
Highlighted Article: Brain gene expression analysis sheds new light on the relationship between instincts and learned behaviors and provides new insights into how the brain's reward system influences social behavior.
- Biological activity of the enantiomers of 3-methylhentriacontane, a queen pheromone of the ant Lasius niger
Summary: The two enantiomers of the black garden ant queen pheromone 3-methylhentriacontane are both effective in suppressing worker ovarian development but the (S)-enantiomer more effectively reduces aggressive behavior.
- Comparative analysis of fertility signals and sex-specific cuticular chemical profiles of Odontomachus trap-jaw ants
Highlighted Article: Fertility signals are not conserved in four species of Odontomachus trap-jaw ants: male signals are more conserved, but are species specific. Bioassays implicate newly discovered compounds as fertility signals for O. ruginodis.
- How to know which food is good for you: bumblebees use taste to discriminate between different concentrations of food differing in nutrient content
Highlighted Article: Bumblebee workers are able to discriminate different concentrations of a food mixture and hence nutrients by using their sense of taste, which may enable them to individually regulate food intake.