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What is the context of this research?

Parasitic organisms pose a threat to honey bee health and may play a significant role in colony declines around the world. One newly identified honey bee parasite is Apocephalus borealis, also known as the zombie fly.

Zombie flies attack honey bees and their insert eggs inside a bee’s abdomen. The eggs then hatch, into multiple maggots that develop inside the bee’s body and feed on muscle tissues.

Strangely,parasitized bees behave like zombies as they abandon the hive at night and become attracted to nearby lights. As parasitized bees arrive at the lights, they become disoriented, come down the ground and die shortly after. What is causing this unusual change in behavior remains unknown. We propose that parasitism by zombie flies alters the expression of genes involved in controlling the day and night activities of honey bees. We also aim to determine whether parasitized honey bees behave differently inside the hive before exhibiting abandonment behavior.











What is the significance of this project?

Honey bees are economically important for agriculture and play a beneficial role in natural plant ecosystems. If honey bee colonies continue to decimate, human lives will be seriously affected at the nutritional level as many of the staple foods we rely on will be less available. Without knowing how parasitic organisms influence the health and behavior of honey bees, further population declines will potentially lead to irreversible changes in agricultural production.



Our study will help reveal the impacts of phorid fly parasitism on the health and behavior of honey bees. It will also provide a physiological mechanism for hive abandonment behavior, a key symptom of colony collapse disorder (CCD).

What are the goals of the project?

1. Determine whether parasitism by zombie flies alters honey bee circadian rhythms



Collect parasitized and non-parasitized honey bees

Extract genetic material from honey bee brains

Perform PCR to quantify gene expression inside brains

Set up two observation hives to monitor behaviors of parasitized and non-parasitized honey bees

2.Examine the extent to which parasitism by zombie flies affects the behavior of honey bee nurses and foragers3. Determine whether zombie flies prefer honey bee hosts rather than bumble bees or paper wasps (native hosts)