Meeting Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms that connect a social experience to behavioral change is a fundamental issue in integrative biology. Honey bee aggression is socially responsive on an acute time scale: during a predator attack, guard bees release an alarm pheromone that induces an aggressive response in nest mates. Honey bee aggression also is socially responsive over a longer time scale; previous research has shown that bees cross-fostered in highly aggressive colonies are more likely to behave aggressively compared to bees cross-fostered in relatively docile colonies. However, no study has addressed whether honey bee larvae are similarly sensitive to colony aggression levels. Larvae and pupae are subjected to both direct and indirect social interactions during development: they are dependent on adult worker bees for food provisioning, and they are also exposed to a milieu of chemical and physical cues within the hive environment. We assessed whether individuals reared in relatively high or low aggression colonies as larvae show differences in aggressive behaviors once they reach adulthood. We cross-fostered eggs in colonies with high and low aggression levels until just prior to adult emergence. Using a lab-based test that measures aggressive responses to a non-nestmate bee, we found that eight-day-old adult bees reared in high aggression colonies showed higher aggression levels compared to sisters reared in low aggression colonies. These results suggest that larval experiences are retained through development to adulthood, with lasting consequences for behavior. Thus, the expression of aggression in honey bees depends on current social cues as well as both adult and larval experience.
