Research at the Interface of Physiology and Behavior

Gene E. Robinson

Professor, Department of Entomology

Ph.D., Cornell University

My research group uses the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, to understand the mechanisms governing social behavior. Behavioral development occurs in many animals, including humans. As animals age and pass through different life stages, their genetically determined behavioral responses to environmental and social stimuli change in predictable ways. Often these responses increase in complexity and involve learning. Our research is designed to explain the function and evolution of behavioral mechanisms that integrate the activity of individuals in a society, neural and neuroendocrine mechanisms that regulate behavior within the brain of the individual, and the genes that influence social behavior.

Among the species of animals most attuned to their social environment are the social insects, which include the honey bee. They live in societies that rival our own in complexity and internal cohesion. Social insects are characterized by "eusociality," which means they live obligately in colonies with overlapping generations, cooperative brood care, and a reproductive division of labor. The queen reproduces directly, while the workers perform tasks related to colony growth and development and engage in little, if any, reproduction themselves. Advanced eusocial species such as honey bees have the largest colonies, numbering tens or even hundreds of thousands of workers. They also live in the most complex societies, highlighted by an intricate division of labor among workers.

Social insects are "extremists" in their constant expression of social behavior; they coordinate virtually all of their activities with other individuals to ensure colony survival. Yet despite their special attributes, the challenges social insects face are not exceptional. All animals must, to some degree, obtain and process information about their changing ecological and social milieu and act accordingly. Neural and behavioral plasticity is even more contingent upon social context for species with active social lives. In social evolution, the sophistication of behavioral mechanisms for the essentials of life -- food, shelter, and reproduction -- stems from increased abilities to communicate and synchronize behavior with conspecifics. Social insects, especially honey bees, are thus exemplars for the discovery of general principles of brain function and behavior.

During just a 4-7 week adult lifespan, worker honey bees display a rich, vertebrate-like pattern of behavioral development, which underlies age-related division of labor in the bee colony. Bees undergo a series of transitions that culminates with foraging, a complex task that requires learning how to navigate in the environment and handle flowers. Behavioral development in the bee is a powerful system for integrated analysis; although it occurs naturally in the field, some underlying mechanisms also are readily analyzable in the laboratory. Moreover, owing to the bee's special status as a producer of honey and the premier animal pollinator, it has been closely associated with human beings for millennia. As a result, we know more about honey bees than just about any other animal on earth. One consequence of this wealth of knowledge is that the natural social life of the honey bee, though as complex as in any vertebrate society, can be extensively manipulated with unparalleled precision.

For more information: http://www.life.uiuc.edu/robinson