Degree Name
MS (Master of Science)
Program
Biology
Date of Award
8-2025
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Dr. Melissa Whitaker
Committee Members
Dr. Darrell Moore, Dr. Brooke Schmeichel
Abstract
The relationship between plants and their pollinators is often framed as a food-for-service exchange in which plants provide pollinators with nutrients in exchange for transport of their gametes. However, in addition to essential nutrients, many floral rewards (nectar, pollen) also contain defensive toxins such as alkaloids, with largely unexplored consequences for plant-pollinator interactions. I investigated how three psychoactive and addictive plant alkaloids — caffeine, nicotine, and morphine — affect foraging behavior in generalist bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) using robotic flowers. Each of these chemicals affected pollinator foraging behavior, influencing the number and duration of their visits to flowers in complex ways, indicating that all three alkaloids can influence individual foraging decisions. A better understanding of how floral chemistry shapes pollinator foraging and decision-making may help explain chemical diversity in floral rewards and the forces that shape plant-insect coevolution.
Document Type
Thesis - embargo
Recommended Citation
Mathieson, Skylar, "Investigating the Impact of Psychoactive Plant Alkaloids on Bumblebee Behavior" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4580. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/4580
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
Included in
Behavioral Neurobiology Commons, Behavior and Ethology Commons, Entomology Commons, Integrative Biology Commons, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Plant Biology Commons
