Pheromones and reproduction in brazilian stingless bees

Engels, Wolf

doi:10.1590/s0074-02761987000700009

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…It is interesting to note that the butyrates found in high proportions only in such S postica queens show some structural relationship to certain acetates which are typical sex pheromones in Lepidopteran females (Arn et al, 1992). Under natural conditions the mated queen will not undertake another nuptial flight, and therefore normally will not meet any more mature drones which in stingless bees colonies always leave the maternal colony and act as vagabonds (Engels and Engels, 1984;Engels, 1987). In the mating box bioassay drones confronted with a recently mated young queen showed little interest (Engels and Engels, 1984; confirmed by the biotest results reported here).…”

Section: Incipientsupporting

confidence: 73%

Age-related patterns of volatile cephalic constituents in queens of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica Latr (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Engels

Lübke³

et al. 1993

Apidologie

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Section: Incipientsupporting

confidence: 73%

Age-related patterns of volatile cephalic constituents in queens of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica Latr (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Engels

Lübke³

et al. 1993

Apidologie

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“…In stingless bees, DCAs also are a common, but not well studied, phenomenon. Unlike honey bees, most congregations of stingless bee drones occur with drones perched on objects, often directly outside of colonies in which queen supersedure, or swarm settlement, has taken place and from which, consequently, a young queen will take off for nuptial flight (Engels andEngels, 1984, 1988;Engels, 1987;Roubik, 1990;Sommeijer and De Bruijn, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Queen Volatiles as a Modulator of Tetragonisca angustula Drone Behavior

et al. 2011

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Tetragonisca angustula mating occurs during the virgin queen nuptial flight, usually in the presence of a drone congregation area (DCA). The presence of virgin queen pheromone is considered the trigger for DCA establishment, although this has not been demonstrated experimentally. We established meliponaries, in different habitats, with T. angustula virgin queens during the main drone reproduction period. Eight DCAs were observed in urban areas, and all established outside or near colonies containing at least one virgin queen. The accumulation of drones in the DCAs occurred from 08:00 to 18:00 h and over 3-35 days. The number of drones in DCAs ranged from 60 to 2,000. In field trials, drones were attracted to virgin queens and also, unexpectedly, to physogastric queens. Volatiles collected from both virgin and physogastric queens elicited strong electoantennogram (EAG) responses from drones. Virgin and physogastric queen volatiles were qualitatively similar, but quantitatively different, in chemical composition. The queen's abdomen was the principal source of these compounds. Isopropyl hexanoate (IPH), the most abundant compound in virgin queen volatiles and one of the most abundant in physogastric queen volatiles, was identified as one of the compounds that elicited EAG responses and was demonstrated to attract drones in a field test.

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“…For example, in Lasioglossum zephryum (Halictidae), macrocyclic lactones produced by the Dufour's gland appear to function as a sex pheromone (Smith et al 1985). Focusing on stingless bees, the only reported case is that of Scaptotrigona postica (Engels 1987;Engels et al 1990), where in field tests, the attractiveness of males to an artificial scent mixture, reflecting the main compounds of the cephalic volatiles found in virgin females, was shown. In the present study, we contribute to knowledge of olfactory sex attraction in bees by studying a stingless bee species widely distributed in Mexico and of considerable ecological and economic importance, Scaptotrigona mexicana (Ayala 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Olfactory attraction of Scaptotrigona mexicana drones to their virgin queen volatiles

et al. 2011

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Drone congregations are a ubiquitous phenomenon described in several species of stingless bees and extensively studied in the honeybee, Apis mellifera. In meliponaries of Scaptotrigona mexicana, it is usual to observe drones forming such congregations close to the nests, apparently waiting for a virgin queen for mating. We hypothesize that drones of this species, similarly to those of A. mellifera and the stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica, use olfactory signals to detect queens and evaluate their reproductive status. In both field and laboratory experiments, our results showed that S. mexicana drones were able to differentiate between virgin and physogastric queens. It seems that this ability to discriminate depends on the amount of 2-alcohols, since even though no differences were observed in the qualitative content between virgin and physogastric queens, these compounds were found in larger quantities in the virgin queens. Attraction is due to compounds found in the queen head, mainly 2-alcohols, where 2-nonanol is the most significant for drone attraction in field and laboratory bioassays and for eliciting a high drone antennal response. Scaptotrigona mexicana / drones / behavior / EAG

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Pheromones and reproduction in brazilian stingless bees

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

Age-related patterns of volatile cephalic constituents in queens of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica Latr (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Age-related patterns of volatile cephalic constituents in queens of the neotropical stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica Latr (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Queen Volatiles as a Modulator of Tetragonisca angustula Drone Behavior

Olfactory attraction of Scaptotrigona mexicana drones to their virgin queen volatiles

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