![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/currents-straight.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
In social insects, queens, after their nuptial mating flight, get to lie around and be tended to by their caste of workers. Because the queen\u2019s only job is to make babies and order her workers around, she tends to be much bigger and fatter, and less mobile. But, not so for bumblebees, where the queen is larger but otherwise physically indistinguishable from her workers. In a study published today<\/a> in PNAS, researchers describe a key difference that sets bumblebee queens apart\u2014their tongues.<\/p>\n In bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), the queens forage intensively as they\u2019re getting their nests set up, but as soon as their workers take over the nectar-gathering job, the queens stop. Wondering what was keeping them from gathering more nectar, engineers from San Yat-Sen University, Georgia Tech, and Beijing Institute of Technology combined forces with a paleobiologist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to examine bumblebee mouthparts. Prior studies had assumed that the queen\u2019s behavior stemmed from hormonal and energy metabolism changes that kicked in once she started reproducing.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Read more: \u201cLoyalty Nearly Killed My Beehive<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n But when they compared bumblebee queens to workers at a micro level, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the researchers found a difference in their tongues. Bees lap flower nectar using a long proboscis that\u2019s basically a tube wrapped in a hairy tongue. Each segment of the tongue has a ring of slender hairs separated by curved areas (menisci) that trap the liquid nectar. The SEM images revealed that queen bumblebees have more widely spaced hairs than workers, resulting in limited nectar retention in the curved menisci. The queen\u2019s tongue is effectively more porous, which means that queens can lap nectar, but much of it doesn\u2019t stay on their tongues, making them less efficient foragers compared to workers. The study authors postulate that \u201cthis physical constraint offers a mechanistic explanation for why queens relinquish foraging once workers emerge, underscoring how subtle deviations in microstructure can influence the division of labor in social insects.\u201d<\/p>\n The microscopic variations in tongue structure may also be relevant in understanding the matching between bee species and flower types. Classically, bee tongue length is interpreted relative to the depth of flower nectaries as an example of coevolution. But porosity of the tongue relative to the viscosity of the nectar may also play a role in bee-flower matchmaking.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. So, next time you see a bumblebee buzzing around, be sure to check out its mouthparts. Enjoying\u00a0 Nautilus<\/a>? Subscribe to our free newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lead image: Linas T \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Devin Reese <\/p>\n
\n Explore
\n <\/a><\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/K1mBVWyB-Reese_BREAKER.png\")
QUEEN BEE: This close-up is a SEM image of a queen bumblebee\u2019s tongue. While it looks impressive here, the queen\u2019s tongues have more widely spaced hairs than workers, making them less efficient for gathering nectar. Image from Huang, Z., et al. PNAS (2026).<\/p>\n
\n
\n Log in
\n <\/a>
\n or
\n
\n Join now
\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n
\n Log in
\n <\/a>
\n or
\n
\n Join now
\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nautilus-favicon-14.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n
\n Log in
\n <\/a>
\n or
\n
\n Join now
\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n