RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Noxious stimulation induces self-protective behaviour in bumblebees
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2024.01.15.575734
DO 10.1101/2024.01.15.575734
A1 Gibbons, Matilda
A1 Pasquini, Elisa
A1 Kowalewska, Amelia
A1 Read, Eva
A1 Gibson, Sam
A1 Crump, Andrew
A1 Solvi, Cwyn
A1 Versace, Elisabetta
A1 Chittka, Lars
YR 2024
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2024/01/16/2024.01.15.575734.abstract
AB Self-grooming directed towards a noxiously-stimulated body part is one indicator that an animal may feel pain. In insects, the lack of evidence for such behaviour has been widely argued to reflect the absence of pain experiences. Here, we tested whether bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) selectively groom one of their antennae that was touched with a noxiously-heated (65 □C) probe. In the first two minutes after being touched with the noxiously-heated probe, bees groomed their touched antenna a) more than their untouched antenna, b) more than bees that were touched on the antenna with an unheated probe, and c) more than control (untouched) bees groomed either of their antennae. Our results clearly show that bumblebees can direct grooming towards a site of noxious stimulation. Our findings thus refute arguments that claim that insects do not feel pain because of their lack of displaying this behaviour.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.