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Mumoki FN, Yusuf AA, Pirk CWW, Crewe RM. Hydroxylation patterns associated with pheromone synthesis and composition in two honey bee subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata and A. m. capensis laying workers. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2019; 114:103230. [PMID: 31470083 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2019.103230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Revised: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Colony losses due to social parasitism in the form of reproductive workers of the Apis mellifera capensis clones results from the production of queen-like pheromonal signals coupled with ovarian activation in these socially parasitic honey bees. While the behavioral attributes of these social parasites have been described, their genetic attributes require more detailed exploration. Here, we investigate the production of mandibular gland pheromones in queenless workers of two sub-species of African honey bees; A. m. scutellata (low reproductive potential) and A. m. capensis clones (high reproductive potential). We used standard techniques in gas chromatography to assess the amounts of various pheromone components present, and qPCR to assess the expression of cytochrome P450 genes cyp6bd1 and cyp6as8, thought to be involved in the caste-dependent hydroxylation of acylated stearic acid in queens and workers, respectively. We found that, for both subspecies, the quality and quantity of the individual pheromone components vary with age, and that from the onset, A. m. capensis parasites make use of gene pathways typically upregulated in queens in achieving reproductive dominance. Due to the high production of 9-hydroxy-decenoic acid (9-HDA) the precursor to the queen substance 9-oxo-decenoic acid (9-ODA) in newly emerged capensis clones, we argue that clones are primed for parasitism upon emergence and develop into fully fledged parasites depending on the colony's social environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fiona N Mumoki
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa.
| | - Abdullahi A Yusuf
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa.
| | - Christian W W Pirk
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa.
| | - Robin M Crewe
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa.
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2
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Increased response to sequential infections of honeybee, Apis mellifera scutellata, colonies by socially parasitic Cape honeybee, A. m. capensis, workers. Sci Rep 2019; 9:7582. [PMID: 31110261 PMCID: PMC6527567 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43920-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 04/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, workers can be social parasites and host colonies can defend themselves by rejection of such workers. Using the pseudo-clonal obligate parasitic lineage of A. m. capensis and wild-type A. m. capensis workers, which are facultative parasites, we show that host colonies significantly increase their defence behaviour towards social parasites upon secondary exposure. Most obligate and facultative social parasites were rejected before they could even produce significant amounts of the queen-like mandibular gland pheromone secretion or activate their ovaries. This suggests that other signals, like cuticular hydrocarbons, could be used by host colonies to identify potential invaders. Honeybee colonies seem to be able to utilise these potential cues, learn from their initial exposure to hive intruders and enable them to improve their defensive behaviour during subsequent infestations, resulting in increased removal rates of parasites.
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3
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Mumoki FN, Pirk CWW, Yusuf AA, Crewe RM. Reproductive parasitism by worker honey bees suppressed by queens through regulation of worker mandibular secretions. Sci Rep 2018; 8:7701. [PMID: 29799016 PMCID: PMC5967312 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26060-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Accepted: 05/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Social cohesion in social insect colonies can be achieved through the use of chemical signals whose production is caste-specific and regulated by social contexts. In honey bees, queen mandibular gland pheromones (QMP) maintain reproductive dominance by inhibiting ovary activation and production of queen-like mandibular gland signals in workers. We investigated whether honey bee queens can control reproductively active workers of the intraspecific social parasite Apis mellifera capensis, parasitising A. m. scutellata host colonies. Our results show that the queen’s QMP suppresses ovarian activation and inhibits the production of QMP pheromone signals by the parasitic workers, achieved through differential expression of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of these pheromones at two points in the biosynthetic pathway. This is the first report showing that honey bee queens can regulate reproduction in intraspecific social parasites and deepens our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of worker reproduction in social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fiona N Mumoki
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa.
| | - Christian W W Pirk
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Abdullahi A Yusuf
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Robin M Crewe
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa
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Lacava M, González-Gómez J, Valenzuela-Rojas J, Moncayo C, Cardozo L, Tizo-Pedroso E, García L. New cases of social parasitism among pseudoscorpions from Colombian populations. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2015.1077891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Lacava
- Grupo de investigación BEA, Corporación de Turismo del Huila, Carrera 5 No 8-67, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
- Laboratorio de Ecología del Comportamiento, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Sección Entomología, Facultad de Ciencias, Iguá 4225, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - J.C. González-Gómez
- Grupo de investigación BEA, Corporación de Turismo del Huila, Carrera 5 No 8-67, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
- Universidad Surcolombiana, Semillero INVUSCO, Avenida Pastrana Borrero - Carrera 1, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
| | - J.C. Valenzuela-Rojas
- Grupo de investigación BEA, Corporación de Turismo del Huila, Carrera 5 No 8-67, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
- Universidad Surcolombiana, Semillero INVUSCO, Avenida Pastrana Borrero - Carrera 1, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
- COLCIENCIAS, Avenida Pastrana Borrero - Carrera 1, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
| | - C. Moncayo
- Grupo de investigación BEA, Corporación de Turismo del Huila, Carrera 5 No 8-67, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
- Universidad Surcolombiana, Semillero INVUSCO, Avenida Pastrana Borrero - Carrera 1, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
| | - L. Cardozo
- Grupo de investigación BEA, Corporación de Turismo del Huila, Carrera 5 No 8-67, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
- Universidad Surcolombiana, Semillero INVUSCO, Avenida Pastrana Borrero - Carrera 1, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
| | - E. Tizo-Pedroso
- Universidade Estadual de Goiás, Câmpus Morrinhos, Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental de Aracnídeos, Goiás, Brazil
| | - L.F. García
- Grupo de investigación BEA, Corporación de Turismo del Huila, Carrera 5 No 8-67, Neiva, Huila, Colombia
- Laboratorio de Ecología del Comportamiento, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Sección Entomología, Facultad de Ciencias, Iguá 4225, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Current affiliation: Universidad de la República, Centro Universitario Regional Este, Trenta y tres, Uruguay
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5
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Rueppell O, Aumer D, Moritz RF. Ties between ageing plasticity and reproductive physiology in honey bees (Apis mellifera) reveal a positive relation between fecundity and longevity as consequence of advanced social evolution. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2016; 16:64-68. [PMID: 27720052 PMCID: PMC5094365 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2016.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2016] [Revised: 05/05/2016] [Accepted: 05/11/2016] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are the best studied model of ageing among the social insects. As in other social insects, the reproductive queen far outlives her non-reproductive workers despite developing from the same genome in the same colony environment. Thus, the different social roles of the two female castes are critical for the profound phenotypic plasticity. In several special cases, such as the reproductive workers of Apis mellifera capensis, within-caste plasticity enables further studies of the fecundity-longevity syndrome in honey bees. At present, molecular evidence suggests that a reorganization of physiological control pathways may facilitate longevity of reproductive individuals. However, the social role and social environment of the different colony members are also very important and one of the key future questions is how much social facilitation versus internal regulation is responsible for the positive association between fecundity and longevity in honey bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olav Rueppell
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Biology, Greensboro, NC, USA.
| | - Denise Aumer
- Institut für Biologie, Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/Saale, Germany
| | - Robin Fa Moritz
- Institut für Biologie, Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/Saale, Germany
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6
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Wenseleers T, Van Oystaeyen A. Unusual modes of reproduction in social insects: shedding light on the evolutionary paradox of sex. Bioessays 2011; 33:927-37. [PMID: 21997278 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201100096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The study of alternative genetic systems and mixed modes of reproduction, whereby sexual and asexual reproduction is combined within the same lifecycle, is of fundamental importance as they may shed light on classical evolutionary issues, such as the paradox of sex. Recently, several such cases were discovered in social insects. A closer examination of these systems has revealed many amazing facts, including the mixed use of asexual and sexual reproduction for the production of new queens and workers, males that can clone themselves and the routine use of incest without deleterious genetic consequences. In addition, in several species, remarkable cases of asexually reproducing socially parasitic worker lineages have been discovered. The study of these unusual systems promises to provide insight into many basic evolutionary questions, including the maintenance of sex, the expression of sexual conflict and kin conflict and the evolution of cheating in asexual lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom Wenseleers
- Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Biology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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7
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Oldroyd BP, Allsopp MH, Lim J, Beekman M. A thelytokous lineage of socially parasitic honey bees has retained heterozygosity despite at least 10 years of inbreeding. Evolution 2010; 65:860-8. [PMID: 21044063 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01164.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The honey bee population of South Africa is divided into two subspecies: a northern population in which queenless workers reproduce arrhenotokously and a southern one in which workers reproduce thelytokously. A hybrid zone separates the two, but on at least three occasions the northern population has become infested by reproductive workers derived from the southern population. These parasitic workers lay in host colonies parthenogenetically, resulting in yet more parasites. The current infestation is 20-year old--surprising because an asexual lineage is expected to show a decline in vigor over time due to increasing homozygosity. The decline is expected to be acute in honey bees, where homozygosity at the sex locus is lethal. We surveyed colonies from the zone of infestation and genotyped putative parasites at two sets of linked microsatellite loci. We confirm that there is a single clonal lineage of parasites that shows minor variations arising from recombination events. The lineage shows high levels of heterozygosity, which may be maintained by selection against homozygotes, or by a reduction in recombination frequency within the lineage. We suggest that the clonal lineage can endure the costs of asexual reproduction because of the fitness benefits of its parasitic life history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin P Oldroyd
- Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Lab, School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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Neumann P, Härtel S, Kryger P, Crewe RM, Moritz RFA. Reproductive division of labour and thelytoky result in sympatric barriers to gene flow in honeybees (Apis mellifera L.). J Evol Biol 2010; 24:286-94. [PMID: 21044209 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02167.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Determining the extent and causes of barriers to gene flow is essential for understanding sympatric speciation, but the practical difficulties of quantifying reproductive isolation remain an obstacle to analysing this process. Social parasites are common in eusocial insects and tend to be close phylogenetic relatives of their hosts (= Emery's rule). Sympatric speciation caused by reproductive isolation between host and parasite is a possible evolutionary pathway. Socially parasitic workers of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, produce female clonal offspring parthenogenetically and invade colonies of the neighbouring subspecies A. m. scutellata. In the host colony, socially parasitic workers can become pseudoqueens, an intermediate caste with queenlike pheromone secretion. Here, we show that over an area of approximately 275.000 km², all parasitic workers bear the genetic signature of a clone founded by a single ancestral worker genotype. Any gene flow from the host to the parasite is impossible because honeybee workers cannot mate. Gene flow from the parasite to the host is possible, as parasitic larvae can develop into queens. However, we show that despite sympatric coexistence for more than a decade, gene flow between host and social parasite (F(st) = 0.32) and hybridizations (0.71%) are rare, resulting in reproductive isolation. Our data suggest a new barrier to gene flow in sympatry, which is not based on assortative matings but on thelytoky and reproductive division of labour in eusocial insects, thereby suggesting a new potential pathway to Emery's rule.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Neumann
- Swiss Bee Research Centre, Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station ALP, Bern, Switzerland.
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9
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Zheng HQ, Dietemann V, Crewe RM, Hepburn R, Hu FL, Yang MX, Pirk CW. Pheromonal predisposition to social parasitism in the honeybee Apis mellifera capensis. Behav Ecol 2010. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arq131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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10
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Wurm Y, Wang J, Keller L. Changes in reproductive roles are associated with changes in gene expression in fire ant queens. Mol Ecol 2010; 19:1200-11. [PMID: 20163551 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2010.04561.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
In species with social hierarchies, the death of dominant individuals typically upheaves the social hierarchy and provides an opportunity for subordinate individuals to become reproductives. Such a phenomenon occurs in the monogyne form of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, where colonies typically contain a single wingless reproductive queen, thousands of workers and hundreds of winged nonreproductive virgin queens. Upon the death of the mother queen, many virgin queens shed their wings and initiate reproductive development instead of departing on a mating flight. Workers progressively execute almost all of them over the following weeks. To identify the molecular changes that occur in virgin queens as they perceive the loss of their mother queen and begin to compete for reproductive dominance, we collected virgin queens before the loss of their mother queen, 6 h after orphaning and 24 h after orphaning. Their RNA was extracted and hybridized against microarrays to examine the expression levels of approximately 10,000 genes. We identified 297 genes that were consistently differentially expressed after orphaning. These include genes that are putatively involved in the signalling and onset of reproductive development, as well as genes underlying major physiological changes in the young queens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yannick Wurm
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
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11
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Tan K, Yang M, Radloff S, Pirk CWW, Crewe RM, Phiancharoen M, Hepburn R, Oldroyd BP. Worker reproduction in mixed-species colonies of honey bees. Behav Ecol 2009. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arp103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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12
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Thelytokous parthenogenesis in unmated queen honeybees (Apis mellifera capensis): central fusion and high recombination rates. Genetics 2008; 180:359-66. [PMID: 18716331 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.108.090415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The subspecies of honeybee indigenous to the Cape region of South Africa, Apis mellifera capensis, is unique because a high proportion of unmated workers can lay eggs that develop into females via thelytokous parthenogenesis involving central fusion of meiotic products. This ability allows pseudoclonal lineages of workers to establish, which are presently widespread as reproductive parasites within the honeybee populations of South Africa. Successful long-term propagation of a parthenogen requires the maintenance of heterozygosity at the sex locus, which in honeybees must be heterozygous for the expression of female traits. Thus, in successful lineages of parasitic workers, recombination events are reduced by an order of magnitude relative to meiosis in queens of other honeybee subspecies. Here we show that in unmated A. m. capensis queens treated to induce oviposition, no such reduction in recombination occurs, indicating that thelytoky and reduced recombination are not controlled by the same gene. Our virgin queens were able to lay both arrhenotokous male-producing haploid eggs and thelytokous female-producing diploid eggs at the same time, with evidence that they have some voluntary control over which kind of egg was laid. If so, they are able to influence the kind of second-division meiosis that occurs in their eggs post partum.
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13
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Moritz RFA, Pirk CWW, Hepburn HR, Neumann P. Short-sighted evolution of virulence in parasitic honeybee workers (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.). Naturwissenschaften 2008; 95:507-13. [PMID: 18288468 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-008-0351-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2007] [Revised: 01/09/2008] [Accepted: 01/23/2008] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The short-sighted selection hypothesis for parasite virulence predicts that winners of within-host competition are poorer at transmission to new hosts. Social parasitism by self-replicating, female-producing workers occurs in the Cape honeybee Apis mellifera capensis, and colonies of other honeybee subspecies are susceptible hosts. We found high within-host virulence but low transmission rates in a clone of social parasitic A. m. capensis workers invading the neighbouring subspecies A. m. scutellata. In contrast, parasitic workers from the endemic range of A. m. capensis showed low within-host virulence but high transmission rates. This suggests a short-sighted selection scenario for the host-parasite co-evolution in the invasive range of the Cape honeybee, probably facilitated by beekeeping-assisted parasite transmission in apiaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin F A Moritz
- Institut für Biologie, Molekulare Okologie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
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14
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Kin composition effects on reproductive competition among queenless honeybee workers. Naturwissenschaften 2008; 95:427-32. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-008-0343-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2007] [Revised: 12/23/2007] [Accepted: 01/12/2008] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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15
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Taborsky M. Cooperation built the Tower of Babel. Behav Processes 2007; 76:95-9. [PMID: 17804178 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2007.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2007] [Accepted: 01/16/2007] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Taborsky
- Behavioural Ecology, University of Berne, Wohlenstrasse 50a, CH-3032 Hinterkappelen, Switzerland.
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16
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Dietemann V, Neumann P, Härtel S, Pirk CWW, Crewe RM. Pheromonal dominance and the selection of a socially parasitic honeybee worker lineage (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.). J Evol Biol 2007; 20:997-1007. [PMID: 17465910 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01303.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The recent invasion by self-replicating socially parasitic Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, of colonies of the neighbouring African subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata represents an opportunity to study evolution of intraspecific parasitism in real time. As honeybee workers compete pheromonally for reproductive dominance, and as A. m. capensis workers readily produce queen-like pheromones, we hypothesized that these semiochemicals promoted the evolution of intraspecific social parasitism. Remarkably, the offspring of a single worker became established as a parasite in A. m. scutellata's range. This could have resulted from extreme selection among different clonal parasitic worker lineages. Using pheromonal contest experiments, we show that the selected parasitic lineage dominates in the production of mandibular gland pheromones over all other competitors to which it is exposed. Our results suggest that mandibular gland pheromones played a key role in the evolution of intraspecific social parasitism in the honeybee and in the selection of a single genotype of parasitic workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Dietemann
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
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17
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Nanork P, Chapman NC, Wongsiri S, Lim J, Gloag RS, Oldroyd BP. Social parasitism by workers in queenless and queenright Apis cerana colonies. Mol Ecol 2007; 16:1107-14. [PMID: 17305864 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2006.03207.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We examined worker reproduction in queenless and queenright Apis cerana colonies to determine if they are parasitized by workers from other nests. The results demonstrate that 2-6% of workers in queenright colonies are from another nest (non-natal), but these workers are not statistically more likely to have activated ovaries than natal workers, and are therefore unlikely to be active parasites. However, in queenless colonies we found a significant difference between the proportion of non-natal (72.7%) and natal (36.3%) workers with activated ovaries. Non-natal workers also had significantly higher reproductive success than natal workers: 1.8% of workers were non-natal, but these laid 5.2% of the eggs and produced 5.5% of the pupae. Unlike A. florea, the proportion of non-natal workers does not increase in queenless nests.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Nanork
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
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