ISSN:
1432-0762
Keywords:
Key words: Apis mellifera– Circadian rhythm – Synchronization – Temperature –Zeitgeber
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract. Workers in social groups of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) synchronize their individual free-running circadian rhythms to an overall group rhythm. By monitoring the activity of bees by recording the oxygen consumption and intragroup temperature, it is shown that the rhythm coordination is in part achieved by temperature fluctuations as an intragroup Zeitgeber. Trophallaxis was shown to have only a minor (if any) effect on circadian rhythm synchronization. A model incorporating a feed back loop between temperature and activity can plausibly explain the observed synchronization of individual rhythms in social groups as a self-organization phenomenon.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00167746
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