Insect flight metabolism and gas exchange

For many years the lab has been investigating insect flight metabolism, performance and thermoregulation, particularly in bees. A major recent focus (in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Fewell and Dr. Greg Hunt and their students) has been to understand the mechanisms and behavioral significance of flight metabolic rate differences between Africanized and European honey bees. Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata) have invaded South, Central, and now southern North America, in most cases hybridizing with and then replacing European honey bees. We have previously shown that Africanized honey bees (workers, queens and drones) have higher metabolic rates during flight than European bees. Current studies are examining the genetic bases to metabolic and size differences among these bees using QTL mapping, and testing whether bees with higher flight metabolic rates have higher foraging intake rates. These studies have been supported by grants from the USDA and the National Science Foundation.