A Closer LOOK: FLIGHT ENERGETICS

摘要

The metabolic cost of flying is very high for insects in general, especially for those responsible for collecting resources in or on their bodies - the foragers. Foraging honey bees masterfully economize on the metabolic cost associated with hovering,load-carrying and high speed travel. The production and consumption of energy during flight occurs primarily in the tergal muscles, or wing muscles, which comprise approximately 75% of the honey bee thorax (Harrison and Fewell, 2002). The metabolic rateof these muscles varies greatly with age and activity level of bees, and also with ambient air temperature at time of flight. In honey bees, the metabolic rate of the thoracic muscles can be 100 times higher in flight than in rest (Harrison and Fewell,2002), testifying to the specialized function of these muscles for sustained flight. The thorax of the honey bee is also the center for endothermy (heat production), a byproduct of the high metabolic activity required during flight. Therefore, flight muscles are as critical to honey bee thermoregulation as they are to foraging.