Self-organized defensive behavior in honeybees

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 96; no. 22; pp. 12611 - 12615
• Main Authors: Millor, J, Pham-Delegue, M, Deneubourg, J.L, Camazine, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 26.10.1999; National Acad Sciences; National Academy of Sciences; The National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal defensive behavior; Apidae; Apis mellifera; Apis mellifera mellifera; Bees; Biological Sciences; Cellular Biology; colony defense; hives; Honey bee colonies; Honey bees; Insect behavior; Insect colonies; Insect genetics; Life Sciences; patterns; Pheromones; Social insects; spatial distribution; stinging; stings; Worker insects; INTENSITE; abeille domestique
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.96.22.12611

We investigated the defensive behavior of honeybees under controlled experimental conditions. During an attack on two identical targets, the spatial distribution of stings varied as a function of the total number of stings, evincing the classic "pitchfork bifurcation" phenomenon of nonlinear dynamics. The experimental results support a model of defensive behavior based on a self-organizing mechanism. The model helps to explain several of the characteristic features of the honeybee defensive response: (i) the ability of the colony to localize and focus its attack, (ii) the strong variability between different hives in the intensity of attack, as well as (iii) the variability observed within the same hive, and (iv) the ability of the colony to amplify small differences between the targets.