Dr. Muki Nagari

Entomology, bee behavior and pollination
Research Interests
Selected Publications
Photos

Social behavior: The connection between sleep and division of labor in bumblebee colonies

Sleep is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom and it is found in diverse animals, from brainless jellyfish to insects and vertebrates. Although the exact function of sleep remains a mystery, it is known that sleep loss has negative implications on health and survival, specifically on cognitive function. Nevertheless, bumblebee workers show remarkable plasticity in their sleep: workers that are exposed to young larvae and pupae, tend them around-the-clock almost without sleeping. We plan to test the hypothesis that workers that give up sleep pay a cost in reducing their performance. This cost may affect the division of labor between the workers in the colony. Alternatively, the tending workers found a way to overcome sleep deficit without compromising their performance.

Pollination: New methods for monitoring pollinator activity in the field

Crop yields in Rosaceae orchards are dependent on insect pollination, specifically bees.  Therefore, growers add commercial bee colonies to supplement pollination in the orchards and increase yields. Studies show that the bee visitation rate in orchard trees is correlated with fruit-set and fruit size. However, the growers only know about pollination deficit in hind-site, after the blooming season is over. To overcome this problem we will develop a method to automatically record pollinator activity in the orchard. This system will allow growers to find and correct pollination deficits in real-time, avoiding crop losses.

Insect ecology: Monitoring moth communities to find the causes for oak stand declines in northern Israel

Bumble workers give up sleep to care for offspring that are not their own

Current Biology, 29:3488-3493

Moshe Nagari, Ariel Gera, Sara Jonsson and Guy Bloch
Potent social time givers overide photic entrainment of the circadian clock in honey bees

Nature Communications 7. * Equal contribution

4. Taro Fuchikawa*, Ada Eban-Rothschild*, Moshe Nagari*, Yair Shemesh and Guy Bloch
Capped-brood that does not require feeding makes nurse honeybees work around-the-clock

Journal of Experimental Biology, 220:4130-4140.

Moshe Nagari Yafit Brenner and Guy Bloch
Task-related phasing of circadian rhythms in antennal responsiveness to general odorants and pheromones in honeybees

Journal of Biological Rhythms, 32:593-608.

Moshe Nagari, Paul Szyszka, Giovanni Galizia and Guy Bloch
The involvement of the antennae in mediating the brood influence on circadian rhythms in "nurse" honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers

Journal of Insect Physiology, 58:1096-1103.

Moshe Nagari and Guy Bloch
Occurrence and etiology of Alternaria leaf blotch and fruit spot of apple caused by Alternaria alternata f. sp. mali on cv. Pink lady in Israel

European Journal of Plant Pathology 147:695-708.

Gur, L., Reuveni, M. and Cohen, Y. 2017