Results
Social condition significantly predicted both absolute mass lost and
proportion of mass lost at 0% humidity (Table 1; Figure 1). Paired bees
lost 1.892 ± 0.181 mg (4.22 ± 1.81%) of body mass, while singleton bees
lost 2.452 ± 0.173 mg (5.17 ± 0.04%) of body mass. The proportion of
active time also significantly predicted absolute and proportional mass
loss, but initial body mass did not significantly predict either (Table
1). Likewise, the interaction between social condition and proportion of
active time did not predict absolute or proportional mass loss. On
average, M. tepidus females sampled in our study contained 26.0 ±
1.86 mg (62.2 ± 0.94%) body water.
Table 1. ANOVA tables showing the effects of evaluated predictor
variables (social condition, activity time, initial mass, and the
interaction between social condition and activity time) on two response
variables (top: total mass lost, and bottom: the proportion of mass
lost).