ROBERTS, S.P.*; ELEKONICH, M.M.; Univ. of Nevada Las Vegas; Univ. of Nevada Las Vegas: Physiological Underpinnings of Age-Related and Environmentally-Mediated Phenotypic Plasticity in Honey Bees

Honey bee workers exhibit a form of behavioral development termed �temporal polyethism�, progressing through a series of behavioral stages in an age-related fashion. Younger individuals work inside the hive at tasks such as brood care and hive maintenance during the first two to three weeks of adult life and older individuals work outside the hive as foragers. The rate of movement through these behavioral stages is modified by both extrinsic factors and intrinsic factors including genotype. Honey bees therefore are an ideal species for system-level analyses of ageing phenomena and associated physiological transitions. For example, workers transition from arrhythmic to rhythmic diurnal activity patterns at the onset of foraging behavior. Also, workers undergo social and resource-dependent behavioral transitions such as precocious foraging due to pollen shortage or forager loss following depredation or pesticide exposure. With the transition to foraging, individuals also move from homogeneous to heterogeneous physical and sensory environments and experience task-related increases in metabolic capacity. We will provide an overview of current research addressing these phenomena in honey bees and identify remaining questions.