Bumble Bee Queens Coordinate Communication Chemicals Across Multiple Body Glands

New research by SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Margarita Orlova is providing new insight into how bumble bee queens communicate through chemical signals and how those signals change throughout their lives.

Orlova collaborated with Dr. Etya Amsalem of Penn State University on the paper, "A Common Regulatory Architecture Shapes Queen Chemical Signals Across Multiple Exocrine Sites," published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology.

Insects use chemicals produced by different glands and other sites throughout their bodies to communicate information such as identity, health, and reproductive status. While these chemical sources are typically studied individually, Orlova and Amsalem examined whether changes occurring across different sites within the same insect may actually be coordinated.

The researchers studied bumble bee queens across three key life stages: newly emerged unmated queens, young queens beginning to establish colonies, and older queens raising new queens and males. They analyzed chemical secretions from multiple sites to determine how their composition changed as queens aged and transitioned into reproduction.

The study found coordinated chemical changes across multiple sites as the queens aged. Among the most notable findings, older queens produced shorter hydrocarbons and esters, while several other components of their chemical profiles also changed with mating, age, and reproductive status. These patterns suggest that chemical signals produced in different parts of the body may be influenced by shared biological processes rather than operating independently.

The findings provide a broader perspective on insect chemical communication, suggesting that examining a bee's combined chemical profile may reveal more biologically meaningful information than studying individual glands in isolation. The research also opens opportunities for further study into the physiological mechanisms that coordinate these signals and how chemical communication has evolved across different insect species.