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Journal of Proteome Research

Scientists have been linking an increasing range of behaviors and inclinations from monogamy to addiction to animals鈥�, including humans鈥�, underlying biology. To that growing list, they鈥檙e adding division of labor 鈥� at least in killer bees. A report published in ACS鈥� Journal of Proteome Research presents new data that link the amounts of certain neuropeptides in these notorious bees鈥� brains with their jobs inside and outside the hive.

Mario Sergio Palma and colleagues explain that dividing tasks among individuals in a group is a key development in social behavior among Hymenoptera insects, which include bees, ants, sawflies and wasps. One of the starkest examples of this division of labor is the development of 鈥渃astes,鈥� which, through nutrition and hormones, results in long-lived queens that lay all the thousands of eggs in a colony and barren workers that forage for food and protect the hive. Bee researchers had already observed that honeybees, including Africanized Apis mellifera, better known as 鈥渒iller鈥� bees, divide tasks by age. As workers get older, their roles change from nursing and cleaning the hive to guarding and foraging. Palma鈥檚 team wanted to see whether peptides in the brain were associated with the bees鈥� shifting duties.

They found that the amounts of two substances varied by time and location in the brains of the honeybees in a way that mirrored the timing of their changing roles. 鈥淭hus, these neuropeptides appear to have some functions in the honeybee brain that are specifically related to the age-related division of labor,鈥� the scientists conclude.

The authors acknowledge funding from the program.