Protein craving links larval signals to food provisioning in honey bees.

Zhenfang Li, Yashuai Wu, Jiaming Liu, Chengfeng Yang, Shuai Wang, Min Huang, Shiqi Luo, Xin Zhou

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Zhenfang LiState Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.ORCID 0009-0002-5766-8936

Yashuai WuState Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.ORCID 0009-0008-3936-289X

Jiaming LiuState Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.ORCID 0000-0001-7571-8760

Chengfeng YangState Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.ORCID 0009-0009-1460-3236

Shuai WangState Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.

Min HuangState Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.

Shiqi LuoState Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.ORCID 0000-0002-0506-2230

Xin ZhouState Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Forestry Biosecurity, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.ORCID 0000-0002-1407-7952

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The provisioning of royal jelly for developing larvae by nurse bees is fundamental to social interaction in honey bee colonies. While royal jelly production is regulated by collective larval demand, it remains unclear how colony-level needs are translated into individual worker behavior. Here, we show that the larval pheromone E-β-ocimene (EBO), a volatile compound also used by pollinators as a floral food cue, elicits an intrinsic craving for protein in nurse bees that drives increased pollen consumption. Through in vitro and in vivo experiments, we demonstrate that this response is mediated by the leucokinin (

Indexed as

Feeding BehaviorInsect ProteinsLarvaAnimalsBeesFatty AcidsPheromonesPollenRoyal JellySignal TransductionFatty AcidsInsect ProteinsPheromonesRoyal Jelly

Identifiers

PMID42127177

DOI10.1126/sciadv.aec3855

PMCPMC13170622

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.