The frequency with which bumble bee larvae are
fed during their development was studied using video-recordings.
The behaviour of the workers while feeding worker,
male and queen larvae of Bombus terrestris was recorded. At
the beginning of development, female larvae of both castes
were fed at a similar frequency. However, during their last
phase queen larvae were fed much more often than worker
larvae. Despite the differences in frequency, both queen and
worker larval feeding followed a similar pattern. Male larvae
were fed more often than worker larvae, but less often than
queen larvae. They also differed from the female larvae in the
way their feeding frequency increased during development.
This suggests that the process of feeding male larvae occurs
in a different way.
The time intervals between feedings were very variable
for all larvae: from a few seconds up to 3 h. Although there
was a general tendency for the intervals to decrease in duration
with larval development, the irregularity was always
present.
The differences in feeding frequency found at the individual
level for larvae of the same age and the irregularity of
the feeding process can be explained by the variation in the
amount of food per feeding.
Finally, our data suggest that larvae play an active role in
the regulation of the feeding process. This subject is discussed
and compared to the situation in honey bees
Is data on this page outdated, violates copyrights or anything else? Report the problem now and we will take corresponding actions after reviewing your request.