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In honeybee colonies, guards protect their nest from various robbers including bees from other colonies. Infrared thermography showed that the guards and the bees examined by them (examinees) differ considerably in their thermal behaviour according to their particular role in the nestmate recognition process. The thorax surface temperature was on average higher and more variable in the examinees (36.1 degrees C, S.D.=4.14, N=1545, 303 bees) than in the guards (34.0 degrees C, S.D.=2.00, N=1681, 772 bees). During thorough examinations lasting longer than 30 s, more than 60 % of the examinees showed phases of intense thoracic heating of more than 2 degrees C (maximum temperature 48.5 degrees C), whereas most guards cooled down. Our data suggest that these examinees heat up their surface to enhance chemical signalling during examinations.

The thorax surface temperature of dancing honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica) recruiting nestmates to natural sources of nectar and pollen around Graz (Austria) was measured by real-time infrared thermography without touching them or disturbing social interactions. Thorax temperature during dancing was quite variable (31.4-43 degrees C). In the course of a foraging season it varied considerably and was always lower than in bees foraging from a highly profitable food source (2 molar sucrose 120 m from the hive). It averaged 38.0 degrees C (SD=2.24, n=224 dances) in the nectar foragers and 37.4 degrees C (SD=1.64, n=171) in the pollen foragers, resembling that of dancers foraging 0.5 molar sucrose from feeders with unlimited flow. Hive air temperature accounted only for about 3-8% of total variation. Foraging distance modulated dancing temperature in a way that, according to the decrease of the profitability of foraging with distance, maximum temperatures decreased and, in accordance with the increase of the dancing threshold with distance, minumum temperatures increased with distance, this way providing new support for the hypothesis that the dancing temperature is modulated by the profitability of foraging and the dancing and foraging motivation of the bees. Dancing temperature of both nectar and pollen dancers correlated with several parameters of the hive status, increasing with the amount of brood and decreasing with the amount of honey and pollen. These correlations are discussed with respect to literature reports on a colony's need for pollen and nectar, in particular the effect of brood and the amount of pollen on pollen foraging, and the effect of honey stores and demand for nectar on nectar foraging.

Body surface temperature of individually marked wasps (Paravespula vulgaris, Vespidae, Hymenoptera) was measured by infrared thermography during repeated visits to a feeding bowl without injuring them or disturbing their behavior. Wasps were fed 0.5, 1 and 2 mol/l sucrose solution at two ambient temperatures.Thoracic temperature varied significantly in dependence on food quality (sucrose concentration of solution). At the higher ambient temperatures of 26.1-30.2 degrees C mean thoracic surface temperatures from different experiments were 35.3 and 38.0 degrees C when the wasps took a 0.5 mol/l sucrose solution, 37.0, 38.7 and 38.7 degrees C when they took a 1 mol/l solution, and 39.1 degrees C when they took a 2 mol/l sucrose solution. At the lower ambient temperatures of 17.6-21.0 degrees C thoracic temperatures were lower but the effect of different sucrose concentrations was similar: 34.7 degrees C with a 0.5 mol/l and 36.1 degrees C with a 1 mol/l sucrose solution. The concentration effect amounted to about 10-25% of the whole variability of thorax temperature. By contrast, the temperatures of the head and abdomen did not follow the changes in thorax temperature according to changes in sucrose concentration closely, which suggests that the pattern of haemolymph circulation may have changed after landing, during the wasps' stay at the feeder. At initial landing at the feeders thoracic temperatures where equal to (three of eight tests) or lower (five of eight tests) than at final departure.The correlation of thorax temperature with food quality probably reflects the wasps' level of excitement and motivation to collect the food, which allows them to balance energetic investment with profitability of foraging and the needs of flight muscle performance and motility.

The temporal dynamics and spatial distribution of heat production by inflorescences of Arum maculatum L. were investigated by infra-red thermography. Two centres of (teat production, the appendix and the male flowers, and three thermogenic phases, two of the male flowers and one of the appendix, could be observed. On the first day of flowering, when the spathe was still firmly closed, the male flowers became thermogenic (= first thermogenic phase Of the in florescence) and reached surface temperatures of 4.1-8.0 °C above ambient temperature. Afterwards the spathe unfolded and the appendix started heating to temperatures of 5.0-14.0 °C above ambient temperature (second thermogenic phase of the inflorescence). On the second day of flowering the male flowers revealed a second temperature maximum of 0.5-601 °C above ambient temperature third thermogenic phase of the inflorescence) which was followed by the release of the pollen grains. When the male flowers started heating, a fruit-like and pleasant scent became evident and continued until the heat production in the male flowers stopped. Only during the heating phase of the appendix was this fruit-like scent overlaid by the dung-like odour typical of many aroid species. The surface of the spadix and the inner surface of the basal bulb (floral chamber) as investigated by scanning electron microscopy were characterized by smooth epidermal cells of papillate shape. These cells were rurgid before the onset of flowering and heat production and collapsed afterwards. Distinct intercellular spaces creating a lacunose epidermis ('Lückenepidermis') were observed between the papillate epidermal cells of the inner surface of the basal bulb (floral chamber). This coincided with a high density of stomata on its outer surface. It is suggested that, beside other pathways, these structures contribute to the maintenance of sufficient oxygen support of the captured insects and the thermngenic tissues inside the floral chamber.

The possibility of nitric oxide (NO) participating in the neurogenic inflammatory reaction of the rat hindpaw skin to topical application of mustard oil was examined in anesthetized rats. Vasodilation was measured by contactless infrared emission thermography, plasma protein exudation was measured by the Evans blue leakage technique, and formation of oedema was determined by measurement of the paw volume. Topical administration of mustard oil increased the temperature of the paw skin by 2-3 degrees C, a response that was accompanied by plasma protein extravasation and followed by development of slight oedema amounting to a 7-8% increase in paw volume. That the mustard oil-induced increase in paw temperature and oedema formation was neurogenic was shown by the finding that both responses were absent in adult rats treated with a neurotoxic dose of capsaicin (0.16 mmol kg-1 s.c.) as neonates. NG-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 43 mumol kg-1 i.v.) an inhibitor of NO formation, caused a significant increase in mean arterial blood pressure and a moderate decrease in cutaneous blood flow, whereas the same dose of the inactive enantiomer, D-NAME, was without effect. L-NAME, but not D-NAME, reduced the cutaneous hyperaemia caused by topical administration of mustard oil by about 50% but did not significantly diminish the exudative reaction to mustard oil. These findings indicate that endothelium-derived NO plays a mediator role in the vasodilator component of mustard oil-induced neurogenic inflammation in the rat paw skin whereas the increase in vascular permeability does not seem to involve NO directly as a mediator.

The participation of nitric oxide (NO) in the neurogenic inflammatory reaction of the rat hindpaw skin to topical application of mustard oil was examined by the use of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 43 mumol kg-1 i.v.), an inhibitor of NO formation. Control rats received the same dose of the inactive enantiomer D-NAME. Vasodilatation was recorded by contactless infrared emission thermography, and plasma protein exudation was measured by the Evans Blue leakage technique and by measurement of the paw volume in anaesthetized rats. L-NAME reduced the cutaneous hyperaemia caused by topical administration of mustard oil by about 50% but did not change the exudative reaction to mustard oil. These findings indicate that NO plays a mediator role in the vasodilator component of neurogenic inflammation in the rat paw skin, whereas the increase in vascular permeability does not appear to depend on NO.