Octopamine, a biogenic amine, is known to influence honey bee behavior in the laboratory by changing sensitivity to stimuli, such as sucrose concentration in food. In the colony, octopamine has been shown to modulate age at onset of foraging behavior. Octopamine also acts as a neuromodulator and improves flight muscle performance in other insects. We examined a potential role for octopamine in integrating motor and cognitive aspects of forager behavior. We examined effects of octopamine treatment on flight performance and foraging behavior of identified foragers under typical colony conditions. We also examined motor effects of octopamine under laboratory conditions by measuring wing-beat frequency of bees in control and treatment groups.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Apidae Apis mellifera (Honey bee)
Keywords: Octopamine, flight
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