Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding How Honey Bee Flight And Senescence Are Connected Through Oxidative Stress., Joseph Margotta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this dissertation was to exploit the tractability of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to understand how the physiological and cellular mechanisms that determine the onset and duration of senescence are shaped by behavioral development and behavioral intensity. These data reveal how behavior can damage cells and consequently limit lifespan. The honey bee represents the ideal model to address these factors because age, behavior, functional senescence, and lifespan are easily manipulated independently of each other while in its natural environment. I determined if there was a cause-effect relationship between honey bee flight and oxidative stress by comparing damage …