Abstract
Texture perception is important in the life of honeybees. Larvae of workers and drones use differential textural cues within their cells to orientate with their heads outermost for pupation and emergence. Adult worker bees have a refined sense of texture which they use in building comb and preparing the insides of cells. Also, they can distinguish between flowers of different species of plants and between parts of the same petals by microscopic textural differences. This finding relates to the phenomena of floral constancy and nectar guides, which are important in foraging behavior. Two neurophysiological mechanisms for texture sensitivity are proposed. Phasic-tonic sensilla are suggested to operate in texture sensitivity for substrate preference (TSSP) in which the insects may be almost or entirely stationary whereas phasic sensilla are suggested to operate in texture sensitivity for information processing (TSIP) such as in foraging when insects are moving, often rapidly.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Atkinson, W. D. 1983. Gregarious oviposition in Drosophila melanogaster is explained by surface texture. Aust. J. Zool. 31: 925–929.
Berthold, R. 1967. Behavior of the german cockroach, Blatella (L.), in response to surface textures. J. New York ent. Soc. 75: 148–153.
Brehm, B. G. and Krell, D. 1975. Flavonoid localization in epidermal papillae of flower petals: a specialized adaptation for ultraviolet absorption. Science (Washington) 190: 1221–1223.
Cooper, K. W. 1957. Biology of Euminine wasps. I Digital communication in wasps. J. exp. Biol. 134: 469–509.
Gontarski, H. 1957. Die Orientierung der Larve von Apis mellifera in der geschlossenen Zelle. I. Dorso-ventrale Orientierung. Z. Bienenforschung 3: 216–220.
Gwynn, D. T. and Rentz, D. C. F. 1983. Beetles on the bottle: male buprestids mistake stubbies for-females (Coleóptera). J. Aust. ent. Soc. 22: 79–80.
Hirashima, Y. 1958. Comparative studies on the cacoon spinning habits of Osmia excavata Alfken and Osmia pedicornis Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Scient. Bull. Fac. Agricult. Kyushu 16: 481–497.
Jay, S. C. 1961. The longitudinal orientation of larval honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) within cells. Anim. Behav. 9: 3–4.
Jay, S. C. 1963. The longitudinal orientation of larval honeybees (Apis mellifera) in their cells. Can. J. Zool. 41: 717–723.
Kevan, P. G. and Lane, M. L. 1985. Flower petal microtexture is a tactile cue for bees. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sciences U. S. A.
Kevan, P. G. and Lane, M. L. 1986. Bees can distinguish flowers of different plant species by microscopic textural features on petals. Honeybee Science (in press).
Kiel, T. A. and Steinbrecht, R. A. 1984. Mechanosensitive and olfactory sensilla of insects. In: Insect Ultrastructure (Vol. 2 ), eds. R. C. King and Akai, pp. 477–516. Plenum Publ. Corp.
Lullenberg, B. 1961. Studies in Ophrys pollination. Zoolog. Bidrag Uppsala 34: 1–340 + plates.
Lukoschus, F. 1955. Uber Hautsinnesorgane der Bienenlarve (Apis mellifera). Z. Bienenforschung 3: 85–87.
Martin, H. and Lindauer, M. 1966. Sinnesphysiologische Leistungen beim Wabenbau der Honigbiene. Z. vergl. Physiol. 53: 372–404.
Mclver, S. B. 1975. Structure of cuticular mechanoreceptors of arthropods. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 20: 381–397.
Pedigo, L. P. 1971. Ovipositlonal response of Plathypena scabra ( Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to selected surfaces. Annls. ent. Soc. Amer. 64: 647–665.
Poston, F. L.; Whitworth, R. J.; Loera, J.; Safford, H. B. 1979. Effects of substrate characteristics on the ovipositional bahavior of the Southwestern Corn Borer. Annls. ent. Soc. Amer. 72: 47–50.
Radkevich, V. A. and Bakaeva, G. Z. 1968. Peculiarities of the texture of leaves as an index of their palatability for leaf-eating insects. Zhurnal Obshchei Biologii 29: 723–730.
Russo, R. 1978. Substrate texture as an oviposition stimulus for Aedes vexans ( Diptera: Culicidae). J. med. Ent. 15: 17–20.
Takahashi, F. and H. Mizuno. 1982. Infestation of rice weevils in rice grain in relation to drying procedures after harvest and the form of the grain at different stages in the milling process. Environ. Control Biol. 20: 9–16.
Tepedino, V. J.; Loar, J. M.; Stanton, N. L. 1979. Experimental trapnesting: notes on nest recognition in three species of megachilid bees ( Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Pan Pacific Entomol. 55: 195–198.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heildelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kevan, P.G. (1987). Texture Sensitivity in the Life of Honeybees. In: Menzel, R., Mercer, A. (eds) Neurobiology and Behavior of Honeybees. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71496-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71496-2_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-71498-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-71496-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive