James C. Nieh

Publications

• 0.26

  Impact points

  Testing honey bee avoidance of predators: teaching the scientific process through an engaging field experiment

  Jesse Wade-Robinson, Goodale, Nieh

  The American Biology Teacher. 01/2012;

• Biology of Thai honey bees: natural history and threats

  Suwannapong, Benbow, Nieh

  01/2012;
• 2.72

  Impact points

  A nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist affects honey bee sucrose responsiveness and decreases waggle dancing

  Eiri, Nieh

  Journal of Experimental Biology. 01/2012; in press.
• 10.99

  Impact points

  Animal Behavior: The orphan rebellion

  Nieh

  Current Biology. 01/2012; 22(8):R280.

  After their queen has left with a swarm, orphaned larvae exhibiting rebel traits emerge in honeybee colonies. As adults, these orphans have reduced food glands to feed the colony’s larvae and more developed ovaries to selfishly reproduce their own offspring.... [more] After their queen has left with a swarm, orphaned larvae exhibiting rebel traits emerge in honeybee colonies. As adults, these orphans have reduced food glands to feed the colony’s larvae and more developed ovaries to selfishly reproduce their own offspring.
• 2.75

  Impact points

  Olfactory eavesdropping between two competing stingless bee species.

  Elinor M Lichtenberg, Michael Hrncir, Izabel C Turatti, James C Nieh

  Behavioral ecology and sociobiology. 04/2011; 65(4):763-774.

  Foragers can improve search efficiency, and ultimately fitness, by using social information: cues and signals produced by other animals that indicate food location or quality. Social information use has been well studied in predator-prey systems, but its functioning within a trophic level remains po... [more] Foragers can improve search efficiency, and ultimately fitness, by using social information: cues and signals produced by other animals that indicate food location or quality. Social information use has been well studied in predator-prey systems, but its functioning within a trophic level remains poorly understood. Eavesdropping, use of signals by unintended recipients, is of particular interest because eavesdroppers may exert selective pressure on signaling systems. We provide the most complete study to date of eavesdropping between two competing social insect species by determining the glandular source and composition of a recruitment pheromone, and by examining reciprocal heterospecific responses to this signal. We tested eavesdropping between Trigona hyalinata and Trigona spinipes, two stingless bee species that compete for floral resources, exhibit a clear dominance hierarchy and recruit nestmates to high-quality food sources via pheromone trails. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of T. hyalinata recruitment pheromone revealed six carboxylic esters, the most common of which is octyl octanoate, the major component of T. spinipes recruitment pheromone. We demonstrate heterospecific detection of recruitment pheromones, which can influence heterospecific and conspecific scout orientation. Unexpectedly, the dominant T. hyalinata avoided T. spinipes pheromone in preference tests, while the subordinate T. spinipes showed neither attraction to nor avoidance of T. hyalinata pheromone. We suggest that stingless bees may seek to avoid conflict through their eavesdropping behavior, incorporating expected costs associated with a choice into the decision-making process. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00265-010-1080-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
• 2.72

  Impact points

  Honey bee forager thoracic temperature inside the nest is tuned to broad-scale differences in recruitment motivation.

  Nik Sadler, James C Nieh

  The Journal of experimental biology. 02/2011; 214(Pt 3):469-75.

  Insects that regulate flight muscle temperatures serve as crucial pollinators in a broad range of ecosystems, in part because they forage over a wide span of temperatures. Honey bees are a classic example and maintain their thoracic muscles at temperatures (T(th)) tuned to the caloric benefits of fl... [more] Insects that regulate flight muscle temperatures serve as crucial pollinators in a broad range of ecosystems, in part because they forage over a wide span of temperatures. Honey bees are a classic example and maintain their thoracic muscles at temperatures (T(th)) tuned to the caloric benefits of floral resources. Using infrared thermography, we tested the hypothesis that forager motivation to recruit nestmates for a food source is positively correlated with T(th). We trained bees to a sucrose feeder located 5-100 m from the nest. Recruiting foragers had a significantly higher average T(th) (2.7°C higher) when returning from 2.5 mol l(-1) sucrose (65% w/w) than when returning from 1.0 mol l(-1) sucrose (31% w/w). Foragers exhibited significantly larger thermal fluctuations the longer they spent inside the nest between foraging trips. The difference between maximum and minimum temperatures during a nest visit (T(range)) increased with total duration of the nest visit (0.7°C increase per additional min spent inside the nest). Bees that recruited nestmates (waggle or round danced) were significantly warmer, with a 1.4-1.5 times higher ΔT(th) (difference between T(th) and nest ambient air temperature) than bees who tremble danced or simply walked on the nest floor without recruiting between foraging bouts. However, recruiter T(th) was not correlated with finer-scale measures of motivation: the number of waggle dance circuits or waggle dance return phase duration. These results support the hypothesis that forager T(th) within the nest is correlated to broad-scale differences in foraging motivation.

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• 2.75

  Impact points

  Optimal eavesdropping by foraging stingless bees: empirical and theoretical support

  Lichtenberg, Hrncir, Nieh

  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 01/2011; 65:763-774.
• 0.31

  Impact points

  Editorial: Hymenopteran group foraging and transfer of information about resources

  Contrera, Couvillon, Nieh

  Psyche. 01/2011; Article ID 392075(doi:10.1155/2011/392075):2 pages.

• The evolution of honey bee communication: learning from Asian bees

  J. C. Nieh

  Formosan Entomologist. 01/2011; 31:1-14.

  Asian honey bees provide fascinating insights into the evolution of honey bee foraging communication. Although all honey bees use the waggle dance to communicate resource location, variations in the waggle dance and in the biology of Asian species have led to several different hypotheses about ho... [more] Asian honey bees provide fascinating insights into the evolution of honey bee foraging communication. Although all honey bees use the waggle dance to communicate resource location, variations in the waggle dance and in the biology of Asian species have led to several different hypotheses about how and why this famous behavior evolved. In this review, my goal is to suggest areas of research and questions that will help us understand the evolution of honey bee foraging communication in greater detail. Specifically, I would like to draw attention to the selective pressures imposed by direct competition and aggression over floral resources and nest robbing, signals related to danger, and experiments that may allow us to resolve questions about honey bee dance dialects. I hope that these suggestions will stimulate more research in Asian honey bees and allow us to develop a better overall picture of the evolution of foraging communication in the corbiculate bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae).
• 1.06

  Impact points

  Colony and individual forager responses to food quality in the New World bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis

  Henry Nguyen, James C. Nieh

  Journal of Insect Behavior. 01/2011; 25:60-69.

  The ability of a successful forager to activate colony foraging allows colonies to rapidly exploit ephemeral resources and is an important innovation in the evolution of sociality. We tested the ability of the species, Bombus occidentalis, to stimulate colony foraging for food varying in quality. We... [more] The ability of a successful forager to activate colony foraging allows colonies to rapidly exploit ephemeral resources and is an important innovation in the evolution of sociality. We tested the ability of the species, Bombus occidentalis, to stimulate colony foraging for food varying in quality. We then analyzed the behavior of successful foragers inside the nest to learn more about potential foraging activation movements. The number of bees entering a foraging arena was positively correlated with food sucrose concentration (0.5, 1.0, and 2.5 M sucrose, equal to 16-65% w/w). Foragers spent significantly more time imbibing higher concentration solutions. Foragers then returned to the nest where they moved in elaborate paths at variable speeds throughout the nest. There was no significant effect of sucrose concentration on average forager velocity or time spent inside the nest. However, the length of a forager’s path inside the nest (total of all distances moved each 0.1 s) significantly increased with sucrose concentration. On average, 2.5 M and 1.0 M foragers walked paths respectively 1.6 fold and 1.4 longer than the paths of 0.5 M foragers. These longer paths could result in a greater number of nestmate contacts, a factor shown to be important in the activation of B. impatiens foragers and also reported in B. terrestris foragers.
• 1.48

  Impact points

  Visual and chemical cues provide redundant information in the multimodal recruitment system of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana (Apidae, Meliponini)

  Sánchez D, Nieh JC, Vandame R

  Insectes Sociaux. 01/2011; 58.

  Multimodal communication plays an important role in pollination biology. Bees have evolved multimodal communication to recruit nestmates to rewarding food sources. Highly social bees can use visual and chemical information to recruit nestmates to rich food sources. However, no studies have determine... [more] Multimodal communication plays an important role in pollination biology. Bees have evolved multimodal communication to recruit nestmates to rewarding food sources. Highly social bees can use visual and chemical information to recruit nestmates to rich food sources. However, no studies have determined if this information is redundant or has an additive effect such that multimodal information is more attractive than either modality presented by itself to free-flying bees. We tested the effect of two modalities, forager-deposited odor marks and the visual presence of foragers, on the orientation of stingless bee (Scaptotrigona mexicana) recruits. Our results show that odor marks alone were significantly more attractive than multimodal information, and that multimodal information was significantly more attractive than visual forager presence alone. Given the high olfactory sensitivity and limited visual acuity of insects, odor marks likely attracted recruits over a greater distance than the visual presence of nestmates. Thus, multimodal information in S. mexicana is redundant, not additive, in terms of orientation to food sources.
• 1.06

  Impact points

  Modeling the Adaptive Role of Negative Signaling in Honey Bee Intraspecific Competition.

  Brian R Johnson, James C Nieh

  Journal of insect behavior. 11/2010; 23(6):459-471.

  Collective decision making in the social insects often proceeds via feedback cycles based on positive signaling. Negative signals have, however, been found in a few contexts in which costs exist for paying attention to no longer useful information. Here we incorporate new research on the specificity... [more] Collective decision making in the social insects often proceeds via feedback cycles based on positive signaling. Negative signals have, however, been found in a few contexts in which costs exist for paying attention to no longer useful information. Here we incorporate new research on the specificity and context of the negative stop signal into an agent based model of honey bee foraging to explore the adaptive basis of negative signaling in the dance language. Our work suggests that the stop signal, by acting as a counterbalance to the waggle dance, allows colonies to rapidly shut down attacks on other colonies. This could be a key adaptation, as the costs of attacking a colony strong enough to defend itself are significant. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10905-010-9229-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
• 3.56

  Impact points

  A molecular phylogeny of the stingless bee genus Melipona (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

  Santiago R Ramírez, James C Nieh, Tiago B Quental, David W Roubik, Vera L Imperatriz-Fonseca, Naomi E Pierce

  Molecular phylogenetics and evolution. 08/2010; 56(2):519-25.

  Stingless bees (Meliponini) constitute a diverse group of highly eusocial insects that occur throughout tropical regions around the world. The meliponine genus Melipona is restricted to the New World tropics and has over 50 described species. Melipona, like Apis, possesses the remarkable ability to ... [more] Stingless bees (Meliponini) constitute a diverse group of highly eusocial insects that occur throughout tropical regions around the world. The meliponine genus Melipona is restricted to the New World tropics and has over 50 described species. Melipona, like Apis, possesses the remarkable ability to use representational communication to indicate the location of foraging patches. Although Melipona has been the subject of numerous behavioral, ecological, and genetic studies, the evolutionary history of this genus remains largely unexplored. Here, we implement a multigene phylogenetic approach based on nuclear, mitochondrial, and ribosomal loci, coupled with molecular clock methods, to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships and antiquity of subgenera and species of Melipona. Our phylogenetic analysis resolves the relationship among subgenera and tends to agree with morphology-based classification hypotheses. Our molecular clock analysis indicates that the genus Melipona shared a most recent common ancestor at least approximately 14-17 million years (My) ago. These results provide the groundwork for future comparative analyses aimed at understanding the evolution of complex communication mechanisms in eusocial Apidae.
• 1.48

  Impact points

  Behavioral suites mediate group-level foraging dynamics in communities of tropical stingless bees.

  E M Lichtenberg, V L Imperatriz-Fonseca, J C Nieh

  Insectes sociaux. 02/2010; 57(1):105-113.

  Competition for floral resources is a key force shaping pollinator communities, particularly among social bees. The ability of social bees to recruit nestmates for group foraging is hypothesized to be a major factor in their ability to dominate rich resources such as mass-flowering trees. We tested ... [more] Competition for floral resources is a key force shaping pollinator communities, particularly among social bees. The ability of social bees to recruit nestmates for group foraging is hypothesized to be a major factor in their ability to dominate rich resources such as mass-flowering trees. We tested the role of group foraging in attaining dominance by stingless bees, eusocial tropical pollinators that exhibit high diversity in foraging strategies. We provide the first experimental evidence that meliponine group foraging strategies, large colony sizes and aggressive behavior form a suite of traits that enable colonies to improve dominance of rich resources. Using a diverse assemblage of Brazilian stingless bee species and an array of artificial "flowers" that provided a sucrose reward, we compared species' dominance and visitation under unrestricted foraging conditions and with experimental removal of group-foraging species. Dominance does not vary with individual body size, but rather with foraging group size. Species that recruit larger numbers of nestmates (Scaptotrigona aff. depilis, Trigona hyalinata, Trigona spinipes) dominated both numerically (high local abundance) and behaviorally (controlling feeders). Removal of group-foraging species increased feeding opportunities for solitary foragers (Frieseomelitta varia, Melipona quadrifasciata and Nannotrigona testaceicornis). Trigona hyalinata always dominated under unrestricted conditions. When this species was removed, T. spinipes or S. aff. depilis controlled feeders and limited visitation by solitary-foraging species. Because bee foraging patterns determine plant pollination success, understanding the forces that shape these patterns is crucial to ensuring pollination of both crops and natural areas in the face of current pollinator declines. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00040-009-0055-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
• 11.56

  Impact points

  Interspecific information transfer influences animal community structure.

  Eben Goodale, Guy Beauchamp, Robert D Magrath, James C Nieh, Graeme D Ruxton

  Trends in ecology & evolution. 02/2010; 25(6):354-61.

  Acquiring information from the cues and signals of other species of the same trophic level is widespread among animals, and can help individuals exploit resources and avoid predators. But can such interspecific information transfer also influence the spatial structure of species within communities? ... [more] Acquiring information from the cues and signals of other species of the same trophic level is widespread among animals, and can help individuals exploit resources and avoid predators. But can such interspecific information transfer also influence the spatial structure of species within communities? Whereas some species use heterospecific information without changing their position, we review research that indicates that heterospecific information is a driving factor in the formation or maintenance of temporary or stable mixed-species groups. Heterospecific information can also influence the organization of such groups, including leadership. Further, animals sometimes select habitats using heterospecific information. We survey interspecific information transfer, and evaluate the morphological, ecological and behavioral factors that make some species information sources and others information seekers.
• 10.99

  Impact points

  A negative feedback signal that is triggered by peril curbs honey bee recruitment.

  James C Nieh

  Current biology : CB. 02/2010; 20(4):310-5.

  Decision making in superorganisms such as honey bee colonies often uses self-organizing behaviors, feedback loops that allow the colony to gather information from multiple individuals and achieve reliable and agile solutions. Honey bees use positive feedback from the waggle dance to allocate colony ... [more] Decision making in superorganisms such as honey bee colonies often uses self-organizing behaviors, feedback loops that allow the colony to gather information from multiple individuals and achieve reliable and agile solutions. Honey bees use positive feedback from the waggle dance to allocate colony foraging effort. However, the use of negative feedback signals by superorganisms is poorly understood. I show that conspecific attacks at a food source lead to the production of stop signals, communication that was known to reduce waggle dancing and recruitment but lacked a clear natural trigger. Signalers preferentially targeted nestmates visiting the same food source, on the basis of its odor. During aggressive food competition, attack victims increased signal production by 43 fold. Foragers that attacked competitors or experienced no aggression did not alter signal production. Biting ambush predators also attack foragers at flowers. Simulated biting of foragers or exposure to bee alarm pheromone also elicited signaling (88-fold and 14-fold increases, respectively). This provides the first clear evidence of a negative feedback signal elicited by foraging peril to counteract the positive feedback of the waggle dance. As in intra- and intercellular communication, negative feedback may play an important, though currently underappreciated, role in self-organizing behaviors within superorganisms.
• 4.82

  Impact points

  Review of Bumblebees: behavior, ecology, and conservation

  Nieh

  The Quarterly Review of Biology. 01/2010; 85(3):373.

• Foraging Biology of Neglected Bee Pollinators

  Rasmussen C, Nieh J, J. C. Biesmeijer

  Psyche : A Journal of Entomology. 01/2010;
• 2.72

  Impact points

  Thermal learning in the honeybee, Apis mellifera.

  Tobin J Hammer, Curtis Hata, James C Nieh

  The Journal of experimental biology. 12/2009; 212(Pt 23):3928-34.

  Honeybee foragers are exposed to thermal stimuli when collecting food outside and receiving food rewards inside the nest. In both contexts, there is an opportunity for foragers to associate warmth with food rewards. However, honeybee thermal learning is poorly understood. Using an associative learni... [more] Honeybee foragers are exposed to thermal stimuli when collecting food outside and receiving food rewards inside the nest. In both contexts, there is an opportunity for foragers to associate warmth with food rewards. However, honeybee thermal learning is poorly understood. Using an associative learning paradigm (the proboscis extension reflex), we show that honeybees can learn to associate a nectar reward with a heated stimulus applied to the antenna to mimic natural contact with a warm flower or nectar-offering forager. Conditioning with longer inter-trial intervals (ITI) significantly improved learning acquisition. We also trained bees to discriminate between temperatures above (warm) and below (cold) ambient air temperature. Learning acquisition improved by 38% per 10 degrees C increase in absolute stimulus intensity (difference between the rewarded temperature and unrewarded ambient air temperature). However, bees learned positive temperature (warm) significantly better than negative temperature (cold) differences, approximately twice as well for 10 degrees C as compared with a -10 degrees C difference. Thus, thermosensation, a sensory modality that is relatively unexplored in honeybees, could play a role in the acquisition of information from nestmates (social learning) and in foraging decisions influenced by associations between floral temperature and nectar rewards.
• 2.32

  Impact points

  Bumblebees exhibit the memory spacing effect.

  Nicholas Toda, Jeremy Song, James Nieh

  Die Naturwissenschaften. 07/2009;

  Associative learning is key to how bees recognize and return to rewarding floral resources. It thus plays a major role in pollinator floral constancy and plant gene flow. Honeybees are the primary model for pollinator associative learning, but bumblebees play an important ecological role in a wider ... [more] Associative learning is key to how bees recognize and return to rewarding floral resources. It thus plays a major role in pollinator floral constancy and plant gene flow. Honeybees are the primary model for pollinator associative learning, but bumblebees play an important ecological role in a wider range of habitats, and their associative learning abilities are less well understood. We assayed learning with the proboscis extension reflex (PER), using a novel method for restraining bees (capsules) designed to improve bumblebee learning. We present the first results demonstrating that bumblebees exhibit the memory spacing effect. They improve their associative learning of odor and nectar reward by exhibiting increased memory acquisition, a component of long-term memory formation, when the time interval between rewarding trials is increased. Bombus impatiens forager memory acquisition (average discrimination index values) improved by 129% and 65% at inter-trial intervals (ITI) of 5 and 3 min, respectively, as compared to an ITI of 1 min. Memory acquisition rate also increased with increasing ITI. Encapsulation significantly increases olfactory memory acquisition. Ten times more foragers exhibited at least one PER response during training in capsules as compared to traditional PER harnesses. Thus, a novel conditioning assay, encapsulation, enabled us to improve bumblebee-learning acquisition and demonstrate that spaced learning results in better memory consolidation. Such spaced learning likely plays a role in forming long-term memories of rewarding floral resources.