TY  - JOUR
A1  - Beer, Katharina
A1  - Schenk, Mariela
A1  - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte
A1  - Holzschuh, Andrea
T1  - The circadian clock uses different environmental time cues to synchronize emergence and locomotion of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Life on earth adapted to the daily reoccurring changes in environment by evolving an endogenous circadian clock. Although the circadian clock has a crucial impact on survival and behavior of solitary bees, many aspects of solitary bee clock mechanisms remain unknown. Our study is the first to show that the circadian clock governs emergence in Osmia bicornis, a bee species which overwinters as adult inside its cocoon. Therefore, its eclosion from the pupal case is separated by an interjacent diapause from its emergence in spring. We show that this bee species synchronizes its emergence to the morning. The daily rhythms of emergence are triggered by temperature cycles but not by light cycles. In contrast to this, the bee’s daily rhythms in locomotion are synchronized by light cycles. Thus, we show that the circadian clock of O. bicornis is set by either temperature or light, depending on what activity is timed. Light is a valuable cue for setting the circadian clock when bees have left the nest. However, for pre-emerged bees, temperature is the most important cue, which may represent an evolutionary adaptation of the circadian system to the cavity-nesting life style of O. bicornis.
KW  - Behavioural ecology
KW  - Evolutionary developmental biology
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202721
VL  - 9
ER  -