Ovos produzidos por rainhas e operárias de Scaptotrigona depilis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponina): morfometria e aspectos relacionados

Lacerda, L. M.; Simões, Zilá Luz Paulino

doi:10.1590/s0073-47212006000100016

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(11 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…There are two possible explanations for these results: (i) the presence of only one or two vitellogenic eggs in each ovary, which led to a very small amount of Vg; or (ii) the presence of only trophic eggs. The trophic eggs are different from the functional ones in size, degree of maturation and yolk content (Cruz‐Landim & Cruz‐Höfling, 1971; Koedam et al , 2001; Lacerda & Simões, 2006). In M. quadrifasciata the yolk of trophic eggs consists mainly of lipids and small amounts of protein (Paes de Oliveira, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitellogenin content in fat body and ovary homogenates of workers and queens of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides during vitellogenesis

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vitellogenin (Vg) is an egg yolk protein that is produced primarily in the fat body of most female insects. In the advanced social structure of eusocial honeybees, the presence of the queen inhibits egg maturation in the workers’ ovaries. However in the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata, the workers always develop ovaries and lay a certain amount of eggs while provisioning the brood cells with larval food during what is known as the worker nurse phase. The present work is a comparative study of the presence of Vg in homogenates of the fat bodies and ovaries of the nurse workers, and the virgin and physogastric queens of M. quadrifasciata. The presence of Vg was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting using Apis mellifera anti‐egg antibody. Vg was not detected in the fat bodies or ovaries of the workers, but it was found in the ovaries of virgin and physogastric queens and in the fat body of physogastric queens. The results are discussed, taking into account the reproductive state of the individuals and the other possible roles of Vg, such as a storage protein for metoabolism of other organs.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitellogenin content in fat body and ovary homogenates of workers and queens of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides during vitellogenesis

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When these eggs occur together in the same brood cell, the larva from worker‐laid eggs always hatch first and kill the female‐producing larva. However, later research did not found groups of queen‐laid eggs (Gencer & Woyke 2006; Lacerda & Simões, 2006a; Woyke, 1994), or observed the “winner male larvae” situation on the larvophagy (Velthuis et al., 2002; Koedam et al., 2005), leaving this question poorly understood. Therefore, brood cells configuration, eggs morphometry and ploidy data are the tools that may contribute to elucidate aspects of genetic competition and social conflict in these bees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence that workers recognize unfertilized queen‐laid eggs for male production in stingless bees

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The behavioural variation in bee workers raises questions about the reproduction in eusocial bees, as well as possible triggers for ovarian activation and oviposition.However, there are no data on possible differences between queen-laid eggs found alone or together with worker-laid eggs in a brood cell. This study evaluated the ploidy of eggs from queens found together with worker-laid eggs in the brood cells of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona xanthotricha. In the brood cells with two eggs, there was a difference in size between them, with the smaller one being a similar size to those found in brood cells with only one egg. The frequency of diploid eggs in brood cells with one egg was 96.6%, whereas, in those with two or more, it was 39.3%.These results suggest that egg fertilization can be identified by workers, because when there is a worker-laid egg, those from the queen are often haploid, supporting a prediction from Hamilton's theory of kin selection.

show abstract

“…Suggestions posed concern the morphological aspects of the eggs, as well as the mechanical, physiological and behavioural factors of the queen and workers. Among others, it was suggested that to fertilise an egg or not would depend on: (1) the position of the queen on top of the collared cell (da Silva, 1977); (2) the age of the queen and the number of spermatozoa present in the spermatheca (da Silva, 1977); (3) the level of food inside the cell, relative to the collar's margin (Bezerra, 1995); (4) the size of the egg (Beig, 1972), where a large-sized egg would impede fertilisation; (5) the absence or reduced number of openings in the micropylar region of the egg, which would obstruct the penetration of spermatozoa (Cruz-Landim and Yabuki, 1995;Lacerda and Simões, 2006b); (6) perhaps a prolonged stay of an already ripe egg inside the ovary might result in embryogenesis to have started already at the time of oviposition (Lacerda and Velthuis, unpubl.); (7) an increase in the oviposition rate of the queen, which would induce a lower fertilisation rate ; (8) in case of weak colonies, Lacerda and Simões (2006b) proposed that by the lower rate of cell construction and provisioning, the concomitantly reduced oviposition rate of the queen would lead to larger eggs with fewer openings in the micropyle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sharing of male production among workers and queens in Scaptotrigona depilis (Moure, 1942) (Apidae, Meliponini)

Lacerda

Simões²,

Velthuis³

2010

Insect. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The proportions of males produced by queens or workers of Scaptotrigona depilis, and the sex-ratio in the brood, were estimated. Thirteen young combs were collected; from one half of each comb the cells were opened and the number of eggs per cell was recorded. Later, upon maturation, from the other halves of the combs the individual inside each cell was classified according to sex. If from a cell containing initially two eggs a male would emerge (supposedly the son of a worker) the proportion of such cells in the comb would represent the maximum overall workers' male production. Consequently, the difference with the number of males found in the second half of the comb would indicate the minimum contribution by the queen. In these 13 combs, on average, 7.3% of the cells contained 2 eggs, whilst in 30.9% of the cells a male developed. Males were found in 10 combs, in 2-79% of the cells. In 6 of the 13 combs 2-47% of the cells contained 2 eggs. In these 6 combs more than 40% of the cells had a male inside. In 5 of them, the frequency of males was significantly higher than the frequency of cells containing 2 eggs. Queens, therefore, produced the majority of the males. There was no correlation between worker and queen numerical investments in male production, indicating different response mechanisms of workers, compared to queens, to conditions favouring male production. There was also no correlation between the mean egg size of the queen and the percentage males in the combs.

show abstract

Ovos produzidos por rainhas e operárias de Scaptotrigona depilis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponina): morfometria e aspectos relacionados

Cited by 9 publications

References 15 publications

Vitellogenin content in fat body and ovary homogenates of workers and queens of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides during vitellogenesis

Vitellogenin content in fat body and ovary homogenates of workers and queens of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides during vitellogenesis

Evidence that workers recognize unfertilized queen‐laid eggs for male production in stingless bees

The sharing of male production among workers and queens in Scaptotrigona depilis (Moure, 1942) (Apidae, Meliponini)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About