Imperial College London
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DrPeterGraystock

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences

Lecturer in Human and Animal Health
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 2255p.graystock Website

 
 
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Location

 

2.4MunroSilwood Park

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Smith:2016:10.7717/peerj.2599,
author = {Smith, AR and Graystock, P and Hughes, WOH},
doi = {10.7717/peerj.2599},
journal = {PeerJ},
title = {Specialization on pollen or nectar in bumblebee foragers is not associated with ovary size, lipid reserves or sensory tuning},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2599},
volume = {4},
year = {2016}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Foraging specialization allows social insects to more efficiently exploit resources in their environment. Recent research on honeybees suggests that specialization on pollen or nectar among foragers is linked to reproductive physiology and sensory tuning (the Reproductive Ground-Plan Hypothesis; RGPH). However, our understanding of the underlying physiological relationships in non-Apis bees is still limited. Here we show that the bumblebee Bombus terrestris has specialist pollen and nectar foragers, and test whether foraging specialization in B. terrestris is linked to reproductive physiology, measured as ovarian activation. We show that neither ovary size, sensory sensitivity, measured through proboscis extension response (PER), or whole-body lipid stores differed between pollen foragers, nectar foragers, or generalist foragers. Body size also did not differ between any of these three forager groups. Non-foragers had significantly larger ovaries than foragers. This suggests that potentially reproductive individuals avoid foraging.
AU  - Smith,AR
AU  - Graystock,P
AU  - Hughes,WOH
DO  - 10.7717/peerj.2599
PY  - 2016///
SN  - 2167-8359
TI  - Specialization on pollen or nectar in bumblebee foragers is not associated with ovary size, lipid reserves or sensory tuning
T2  - PeerJ
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2599
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000387168200008&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/63234
VL  - 4
ER  -
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