The Effects of Temperature on Flight Muscle Potentials in Honeybees and Cuculiinid Winter Moths

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Abstract
Amplitudes of extracellular action potentials in indirect flight muscles of honeybees and cuculiinid winter moths decline with decreasing muscle temperatures and fall suddenly to zero. Action potential durations increase with amplitude decline. Amplitudes at 11°C are only 20% of values near 30°C in workers of Apis mellifera mellifera. They fall to zero at approx. 10°C. In the cuculiinid winter moth Eupsilia devia, amplitudes at 1°C are approx. 12% of values at 27°C. They fall to zero between 0 and 1°C. The duration of action potentials in bees and cuculiinid winter moths is about 7 ms at 27°C and increases to 52 ms at 11°C in bees and to 66 ms at 1°C in moths. The ratios of action potential rise time to fall time are about 1 at 27°C for bees and moths. They decrease to 0.45 at 11°C in bees and to 0.56 at 1°C in moths. Results suggest that bees can heat flight muscles only if muscle temperatures are above 10°C, whereas cuculiinid winter moths can shiver with muscle temperatures near 0°C.