The results obtained showed that antenna of drones reacted to the queen pheromone better, however, the effect of the air flow itself was greater in the reactions of worker bees. The relation between resposes to the air flow and the airborne pheromone was stronger in the reactions of the latter. If the correlation coefficient for the responses of antenna of drones to the two stimuli was equal to 0.55, for the responses of worker bees it amounted to 0.83. We suppose that with the increase in the speed of the air flow, a possible mechanic effect became stronger and supplemented the response of antennal olfactory receptors under stimulation by the airborne bee queen pheromone. Stimulus duration - 0.5 s.
Vertical bars represent confidence interval.
The antenna of worker bees are more sensitive to the effect of the air flow than those of drones. The increase in the speed of the air flow carrying scent molecules does not only intensify the reaction of olfactory receptors of worker bees to the queen pheromone but can also increase its effect on other non-olfactory antennal receptors. Processing of antennal information in extrinsic mushroom body neurons of the bee brain. J. Insect Physiol. Handbook of Sensory Physiology.