Infrared (FTIR) spectral features of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) hemolymph

Abstract

Hemolymph is a liquid of the open circulatory system of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) which represents a functional equivalent of vertebrate blood and lymph. The aim of this study was to determine the overall biochemical composition of honey bee hemolymph based on chemical characterization using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Individual hemolymph samples of two age groups of workers (newly emerged bees-1 day old; foragers-42 days old) were collected by extraction from the thorax, and analysed by FTIR-ATR (Attentuated Total Reflectance) recording technique. The results have revealed a unique IR chemical fingerprint of honey bee hemolymph. Characteristic age-related spectral features indicating compositional variations between newly emerged bees and foragers were observed.

Keywords

• chemical characterization
• ftir-atr spectroscopy
• hemolymph
• honey bee