Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
brood. Hygienic behavior appears to be a general response to remove patho-
gens and parasites from the nest (
Spivak and Gilliam 1993
).
Rothenbuhler's research on hygienic behavior became a classic in textbooks
on behavioral genetics because it was one of the first examples that demon-
strated that behavior is inherited (
Rothenbuhler 1964
). More recently,
Moritz
(1988)
proposed a three-locus model for hygienic behavior in bees. Research
on hygienic behavior continues because such behavior is important in manag-
ing bees. It is clear that the expression of hygienic behavior depends on colony
strength and composition of worker types within the colony (
Spivak and Gilliam
1993, Arathi et al. 2000
). Electro-antennogram analyses of the olfactory and
behavioral responses of hygienic and nonhygienic bees to diseased brood indi-
cated that hygienic bees have a higher sensitivity to low concentrations of the
odor of diseased bee pupae (
Masterman et al. 2001
). Such differences are due
to a lower stimulus threshold and are not a direct result of age or experience
of the bee. Thus, nonhygienic bees may be unable to detect diseased brood.
Understanding hygienic behavior in
A. mellifera
has resulted in practical recom-
mendations to beekeepers for selecting colonies resistant to chalkbrood (a fun-
gal disease) and the pest bee mite
Varroa
. So far, no negative effects have been
found associated with hygienic colonies and such colonies produce as much
honey as nonhygienic ones (
Moritz 1994, Spivak and Gilliam 1998
).
11.4.1.2 House-Entering Behavior in
Aedes aegypti
House-entering behavior by the mosquito
Ae. aegypti
from East Africa was
analyzed by crossing different populations with different behaviors (
Trpis and
Hausermann 1978
). One population of
Ae. aegypti
commonly entered houses
(domesticated or D), whereas others rarely did so (either peridomestic, P, or
feral, F). House-entering behavior is important in determining whether a popu-
lation transmits yellow fever to humans.
Three populations of
Ae. aegypti
collected either inside houses (D), near a vil-
lage (P), or from tree holes in a forest (F) were bred in insectaries and crossed to
produce hybrid (DP, PD, DF, FD, PF, and FP) populations (
Trpis and Hausermann
1978
). The original and hybrid populations were then marked with different
colored fluorescent powders and released near houses. Marked mosquitoes
were captured inside houses and in the village area. Of the mosquitoes enter-
ing houses, 45% were from the D population, 13.9 % from hybrids between
the domestic and peridomestic population (DP and PD), 9.8% from the P popu-
lation, and 5.7% were hybrids (DF and FD). Only 1.5 and 0.6% of the PF and
FP hybrids were collected in the house, and the feral population entered the
house with a frequency of only 0.6%. The recapture rates in the village area
