Social insects such as hornets and honeybees develop from wasps and solitary bees, respectively. Here, scientists find evidence that such a shift from around-the-clock to cyclic tasks, which does not take place in solitary insects, appears to be driven by a slower development of the so-called "endogenous circadian clock" of social honeybees, compared to solitary bees. Delayed Maturation of the Circadian ClockResearchers also said their findings specified that the circadian clock's maturation is delayed in social honeybees, compared to the solitary mason bees. However, it needs to develop to be fully active honeybees, which explains why young honeybees are not yet showing a circadian rhythm. According to Helfrich-Foerster, it will be most interesting for them to conduct similar research on other social insects like ants, which have different forms of social behavior.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 18, 2020 00:00 UTC