Proboscis extension

At a more subtle level, behavioral disturbances may make it more difficult for animals to find food. Pyrethroids, carbamates, OPs, and neonicotinoids can disturb the foraging activity of bees (Thompson 2003). Interestingly, effects have been shown upon the wagtail dance of bees, and this disrupts communication between individuals as to the location of nectar-bearing plants. Also, the neonicotinoid imidacloprid has been shown to adversely affect conditioned responses such as proboscis extension of honeybees (Guez et al. 2001). Nicotinoids can disturb the functioning of cholinergic synapses, which are involved in the operation of the proboscis reflex as... 

In sum, both rigorous analyses of floral odors and olfactory/behavioral assays will be required to tease apart the critical factors that underlie pollinator-flower interactions. Recent work from independent sources indicates progress in this area. For example, studies using GC-EAD and conditioned proboscis extension (Wadhams et al., 1994 Blight et al., 1997 Pham-Delegue et al., 1997) have... 

Le Mdtayer, M., Marion-Poll, F., Sandoz, J. C. el al. (1997). Effect of conditioning on discrimination of oilseed rape volatiles by the honeybee use of a combined gas chromatography-proboscis extension behavioral assay. Chemical Senses 22 ... 

Bestmann H. J., Winkler L. and von Helversen O. (1997) Headspace analysis of volatile flower scent constituents of bat-pollinated plants. Phytochemistry 46, 1169-1172. Bitterman M. E., Menzel R., Fietz A. and Schafer S. (1983) Classical conditioning of proboscis extension in honeybees (Apis mellifera). J. Comp. Psychol. 97, 107-119. Blight M. M. Le Metayer M., Pham-Delegue M.-H., Pickett J.A., Marion-Poll F. and Wadhams L. J. (1997) Identification of floral volatiles involved in recognition of oilseed rape flowers, Brassica napus, by honeybees, Apis mellifera. J. Chem. Ecol. 

Bitterman M. E., Menzel R., Fietz A. and Schafer S. (1983) Classical conditioning of proboscis extension in honeybees (Apis mellifera). J. Comp. Psychol. 97, 107-119. 

Geraniol Xylopia aethiopica (Annonaceae), Asarum Moth proboscis extension... 

Gr5a and Gr66a - ablated by genetic manipulation. Taste responsiveness was assessed by performing proboscis extension reflex assays in control and DTI expressing animals. 

MARFAING, P., ROUAULT, J. LAFFORT, P., Effect of the concentration and nature of olfactory stimuli on the proboscis extension of conditioned honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica). J. Insect Phys., 1989, 35, 949-955. 

The conditioned proboscis extension response involves gustatory, olfactory, and motor functions, as well as integrative processes underlying... 

The CPE assay can involve associative and non-associative phenomena. The associative nature of proboscis extension reflex conditioning can be established by demonstrating that only forward pairing of CS-US sequences are effective to establish proper conditioning, compared to various control procedures, such as unpaired CS-US presentation [52]. The effects of an imidacloprid exposure can be shown not only on the bees performances in an associative learning task [53] but also in a non-associative learning procedure such as habituation imidacloprid at sub-lethal doses alters the number of trials needed to habituate the bees... 

Measurements of behavioral endpoints in honey bees should provide an effective assessment of hazards caused by crop protection chemicals especially when applied to melliferous plants. Under laboratory conditions, the conditioned proboscis extension (CPE) assay provides detectable sub-lethal effects due to pesticides, and also to gene products potentially used in plant genetic engineering (see other chapters of this book). Impairment in olfactory learning abilities have been shown for chemical concentrations at which no additional mortality occurred. Thus, the use of the CPE assay as a method to evaluate the potential effect on the honey bees foraging behavior can help to assess the toxicity of chemicals in a more comprehensive way than by considering the mortality endpoint alone. The CPE procedure can be used to compare responses to different chemicals (Table... 

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