| socially induced brain development in a facultatively eusocial sweat bee megalopta genalis (halictidae). | changes in the relative size of brain regions are often dependent on experience and environmental stimulation, which includes an animal's social environment. some studies suggest that social interactions are cognitively demanding, and have examined predictions that the evolution of sociality led to the evolution of larger brains. previous studies have compared species with different social organizations or different groups within obligately social species. here, we report the first intraspecific ... | 2010 | 20335213 |
| cleaner mites: sanitary mutualism in the miniature ecosystem of neotropical bee nests. | cleaning symbioses represent classic models of mutualism, and some bee mites are thought to perform cleaning services for their hosts in exchange for suitable environments for reproduction and dispersal. these mutual benefits, however, have not been rigorously demonstrated. we tested the sanitary role of bee mites by correlating mite loads with fungal contamination in natural nests of megalopta genalis and megalopta ecuadoria and by experimentally manipulating mite loads in artificial cells with ... | 2009 | 19371167 |
| nocturnal vision and landmark orientation in a tropical halictid bee. | some bees and wasps have evolved nocturnal behavior, presumably to exploit night-flowering plants or avoid predators. like their day-active relatives, they have apposition compound eyes, a design usually found in diurnal insects. the insensitive optics of apposition eyes are not well suited for nocturnal vision. how well then do nocturnal bees and wasps see? what optical and neural adaptations have they evolved for nocturnal vision? | 2004 | 15296747 |