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Science 14 January 1972:
Vol. 175. no. 4018, pp. 185 - 187
DOI: 10.1126/science.175.4018.185
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Articles

Temperature Regulation in the Bumblebee Bombus vagans: A Field Study

Bernd Heinrich 1

1 Division of Entomology, University of California, Berkeley 94720

Bombus vagans forages for nectar at 5°C in shade and at 31°C in sunshine. The production of heat while the bumblebee is on flowers, at ambient temperatures below 24°C, helps to maintain a thoracic temperature that is near the minimum for flight between flowers. However, at ambient temperatures above 24°C the thoracic temperature is no longer regulated at 32° to 33°C and rises.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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`Futile cycle' enzymes in the flight muscles of North American bumblebees.
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Thermoregulation in Endothermic Insects.
B. Heinrich (1974)
Science 185, 747-756
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Energetics and Pollination Ecology.
B. Heinrich and P. H. Raven (1972)
Science 176, 597-602
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)