Respiration in bumblebee queens: Effect of life phase on the discontinuous ventilation cycle

Abstract

Evidence for discontinuous ventilation cycles (DVC) has been obtained for many insects under various experimental conditions. Here, we show that DVC's exist for queens of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris in different phases of their life cycle: before entering diapause (pre-diapause queens) and when a colony has been established (post-diapause queens). Pre- and post-diapause queens experience distinct environmental conditions (ambient O2 and CO2 concentrations) which is reflected in their DVC: both ventilation frequency and amount of carbon dioxide emitted change with differences in ambient CO2 concentration.