摘要：SummaryThe sense of taste permits the recognition of valuable nutrients and the avoidance of potential toxins. Previously, we found that bumblebees have a specialized mechanism for sensing sugars whereby two gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) within the galeal sensilla of the bees’ mouthparts exhibit bursts of spikes. Here, we show that the temporal firing patterns of these GRNs separate sugars into four distinct groups that correlate with sugar nutritional value and palatability. We also identified a third GRN that responded to stimulation with relatively high concentrations of fructose, sucrose, and maltose. Sugars that were nonmetabolizable or toxic suppressed the responses of bursting GRNs to sucrose. These abilities to encode information about sugar value are a refinement to the bumblebee’s sense of sweet taste that could be an adaptation that enables precise calculations of the nature and nutritional value of floral nectar.Graphical abstractDisplay OmittedHighlights•Up to three gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) per galeal sensillum respond to sugars•Bumblebee GRNs produce a bursting pattern in response to sugars of high nutritional value•Response patterns of GRNs can be grouped by sugar nutritional value•Nonmetabolizable and toxic sugars suppress the responses of bursting GRNs to sucroseBiological sciences; Neuroscience; Sensory neuroscience
