reappraising social insect behavior through aversive responsiveness and learning重新评估通过厌恶社会性昆虫行为响应能力和学习.pdfVIP

Reappraising Social Insect Behavior through Aversive Responsiveness and Learning Edith Roussel, Julie Carcaud, Jean-Christophe Sandoz, Martin Giurfa* Research Center on Animal Cognition (UMR5169), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) - University Paul-Sabatier, Toulouse, France Abstract Background: The success of social insects can be in part attributed to their division of labor, which has been explained by a response threshold model. This model posits that individuals differ in their response thresholds to task-associated stimuli, so that individuals with lower thresholds specialize in this task. This model is at odds with findings on honeybee behavior as nectar and pollen foragers exhibit different responsiveness to sucrose, with nectar foragers having higher response thresholds to sucrose concentration. Moreover, it has been suggested that sucrose responsiveness correlates with responsiveness to most if not all other stimuli. If this is the case, explaining task specialization and the origins of division of labor on the basis of differences in response thresholds is difficult. Methodology: To compare responsiveness to stimuli presenting clear-cut differences in hedonic value and behavioral contexts, we measured appetitive and aversive responsiveness in the same bees in the laboratory. We quantified proboscis extension responses to increasing sucrose concentrations and sting extension responses to electric shocks of increasing voltage. We analyzed the relationship between aversive responsiveness and aversive olfactory conditioning of the sting extension reflex, and determined how this relationship relates to division of labor. Principal Findings: Sucrose and shock responsiveness measured in the same bees did not correlate, thus suggesting that they