Scaling of the pollen-collecting apparatus and dimensional aspects of foraging flight of honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)(In English)

摘要

The pollen collecting apparatus of eight species of honey bees ( Apis ) was analysed morphologically and in terms of the dimensional aspects related to the energetic costs of flight in pollen-foraging worker honey bees. The number of rows of pollen brushes on the basitarsus and tines on the rastellum vary among species but do not allow discrimination among all eight species. The surface areas of the corbicula and basitarsus, mass, and engine capacity of the thorax are significantly correlated with body length and increase in logarithmic proportion with increasing size of the honeybee species. Pollen load weight is linearly proportional to corbicular and basitarsus surface areas in all species with the notable exception of A. mellifera ligustica . The relative change in mass of a pollen-laden worker honeybee is not proportional to the surface areas of the corbicula and basitarsus [ Acta Zoologica Sinica 51(5)：947–951，2005].