Noxious stimulation induces self-protective behavior in bumblebees

Gibbons, Matilda, Pasquini, Elisa, Kowalewska, Amelia, Read, Eva, Gibson, Sam, Crump, Andrew ORCID: 0000-0003-4485-5740, Solvi, Cwyn, Versace, Elisabetta and Chittka, Lars (2024) Noxious stimulation induces self-protective behavior in bumblebees. iScience, 27 (8). ISSN 2589-0042

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Abstract

It has been widely stated that insects do not show self-protective behavior toward noxiously-stimulated body parts, but this claim has never been empirically tested. Here, we tested whether an insect species displays a type of self-protective behavior: self-grooming a noxiously-stimulated site. We touched bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) on an antenna with a noxiously heated (65°C) probe and found that, in the first 2 min after this stimulus, bees groomed their touched antenna more than their untouched antenna, and more than bees that were touched with an unheated probe or not touched at all did. Our results present evidence that bumblebees display self-protective behavior. We discuss the potential neural mechanisms of this behavior and the implications for whether insects feel pain.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/iscience
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Authors
Divisions:	Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion
Date Deposited:	25 Jul 2024 16:05
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2024 00:56
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124351

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