PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE FOR DIFFERENCES IN NEUROTRANSMITTER CONCENTRATIONS IN THE BRAINS OF AFRICANIZED AND EUROPEAN APIS-MELLIFERA

Behavioral differences in defensive behavior are well-documented betwe en Africanized and European honey bees. Since variation in neurotransm itter and neurotransmitter metabolite concentrations have been associa ted with behavioral differences in animals, we investigated brain neur otransmitter and neurotransmitter metabolite levels in honey bees of E uropean and Africanized origin. The following neuromitters were examin ed: norepinephrine (N-E), dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic aci d (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), 5-hydr oxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), and be ta-alanine. Significant differences in the levels of beta-alanine were found in the brains of Africanized and European strains of Apis melli fera. While it would be premature to attribute the differences in beha vior between the two strains to these differences in neurotransmitter levels, the differences reported here may be worthy of further attenti on. Confirmation of the neurotransmitter differences we detected using more extensive colony sampling and crossing experiments would provide evidence for a subspecific genetic basis for the variation.