Colony reproduction in Tetragonisca angustula (Apidae, Meliponini)

Veen, Johan W. van; Sommeijer, M. J.

doi:10.1007/s000400050011

Cited by 55 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…T. angustula is a common species, ranging from Veracruz, Mexico to Misiones, Argentina (8). Mature colonies contain ∼10,000 bees (25). Study colonies were kept in wooden hives.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A morphologically specialized soldier caste improves colony defense in a neotropical eusocial bee

Grüter

Menezes

Imperatriz-Fonseca

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

123

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Division of labor among workers is common in insect societies and is thought to be important in their ecological success. In most species, division of labor is based on age (temporal castes), but workers in some ants and termites show morphological specialization for particular tasks (physical castes). Large-headed soldier ants and termites are well-known examples of this specialization. However, until now there has been no equivalent example of physical worker subcastes in social bees or wasps. Here we provide evidence for a physical soldier subcaste in a bee. In the neotropical stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula, nest defense is performed by two groups of guards, one hovering near the nest entrance and the other standing on the wax entrance tube. We show that both types of guards are 30% heavier than foragers and of different shape; foragers have relatively larger heads, whereas guards have larger legs. Low variation within each subcaste results in negligible size overlap between guards and foragers, further indicating that they are distinct physical castes. In addition, workers that remove garbage from the nest are of intermediate size, suggesting that they might represent another unrecognized caste. Guards or soldiers are reared in low but sufficient numbers (1-2% of emerging workers), considering that <1% usually perform this task. When challenged by the obligate robber bee Lestrimelitta limao, an important natural enemy, larger workers were able to fight for longer before being defeated by the much larger robber. This discovery opens up opportunities for the comparative study of physical castes in social insects, including the question of why soldiers appear to be so much rarer in bees than in ants or termites.Meliponini | caste evolution D ivision of labor among workers is nearly universal in eusocial insects (1-5). In most species, this division is based on temporal subcastes, in which workers specialize in different tasks at different ages ("age polyethism") (2, 4, 5). Physical worker subcastes (i.e., groups of workers with morphological adaptations for particular tasks) are less common (4-6). Only ∼15% of all ant genera contain species with physical worker subcastes, and no species of bee or wasp is known to have a division of labor based on physical subcastes (4-6). Where physical worker subcastes occur, they appear to benefit the colony by increasing the efficiency of key tasks such as defense, but have the disadvantage of preventing a colony from rapidly adjusting caste ratios if necessary (4-6). In addition, extreme subcastes, such as large-bodied soldiers, are more costly to rear and have a limited task repertoire (4). It also has been argued that individual-level selection might prevent the evolution of worker polymorphism if workers of different subcastes have varying opportunities to reproduce (5, 7). Given the number of ant and termite species with physical worker subcastes, the lack of evidence for physical worker subcastes in bees and wasps is an intriguing and ongoing puzzle in the study ...

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“…T. angustula is a common species, ranging from Veracruz, Mexico to Misiones, Argentina (8). Mature colonies contain ∼10,000 bees (25). Study colonies were kept in wooden hives.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A morphologically specialized soldier caste improves colony defense in a neotropical eusocial bee

Grüter

Menezes

Imperatriz-Fonseca

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

123

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Similarly, larvae are constrained because they cannot leave their cells or brood piles in search of additional food, and only in some species can they obtain extra food through begging (25a, 59a). The result is that few queens are reared in these species, and that caste fate conflict is effectively resolved (25,112,126,145). In the honey bee, only 0.02% of the female brood are reared as queens (145).…”

Section: Conflict Resolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Honey bee colonies typically produce only approximately 10 to 25 queens, in preparation for swarming or to supersede a failing mother queen, but may produce 150,000 workers per year (145) (Figure 2e). Similarly, in the trigonine stingless bees Tetragonisca angustula and Trigona ventralis, only 0.02% (126) and 0.08% (25) of the females are reared as queens, and in the army ant, Eciton burchelli, only about 1 queen is reared per 50,000 workers (112).…”

Section: Is There Actual Conflict?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict Resolution in Insect Societies

Ratnieks

Foster

Wenseleers

2006

Annu. Rev. Entomol.

540

655

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■ Abstract Although best known for cooperation, insect societies also manifest many potential conflicts among individuals. These conflicts involve both direct reproduction by individuals and manipulation of the reproduction of colony members. Here we review five major areas of reproductive conflict in insect societies: (a) sex allocation, (b) queen rearing, (c) male rearing, (d) queen-worker caste fate, and (e) breeding conflicts among totipotent adults. For each area we discuss the basis for conflict (potential conflict), whether conflict is expressed (actual conflict), whose interests prevail (conflict outcome), and the factors that reduce colony-level costs of conflict (conflict resolution), such as factors that cause workers to work rather than to lay eggs. Reproductive conflicts are widespread, sometimes having dramatic effects on the colony. However, three key factors (kinship, coercion, and constraint) typically combine to limit the effects of reproductive conflict and often lead to complete resolution. INTRODUCTIONObservation of an insect society readily reveals cooperation. Workers actively work for the good of the colony as they forage, guard, build, and nurse. Detailed study reinforces this impression. Workers cooperate to forage and defend by means of sophisticated communication signals (56,113). In some species cooperation includes extreme altruism, with defending workers sacrificing their lives as they deploy detachable stings or chemical-filled exploding abdomens to deter intruders (56,113). However, sophisticated cooperation in one area of social life does not preclude conflict in another. Egg laying, brood rearing, and queen-worker caste development, for example, can all be associated with significant conflict. Indeed, potential conflict in insect societies is inevitable because insect societies are almost always families, not clones. Nevertheless, conflict in insect colonies is less obvious 0066-4170/06/0107-0581$20.00 581 Annu. Rev. Entomol. 2006.51:581-608. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org by University of Massachusetts -Amherst on 10/14/09. For personal use only. 582RATNIEKS FOSTER WENSELEERS than cooperation, which suggests that conflict may often be resolved or weak. What factors enable insect societies to resolve their conflicts? In this review, we discuss the large body of work devoted to this question, which has focused primarily on the eusocial Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps). INCLUSIVE FITNESS THEORY: EXPLANATION FOR BOTH COOPERATION AND CONFLICTInclusive fitness theory (47) provides a general explanation for reproductive division of labor in eusocial insects, with some individuals forgoing direct reproduction to help rear the offspring of other colony members. The intermediate levels of relatedness typically found in insect societies provide a strong incentive for altruism, and kin are also close at hand and can readily be helped by defense or food collection. Ironically, the same theory also led to the realization that insect societies are subject to internal conflic...

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“…In Brazil it is known as Jataí. Mature colonies in Costa Rica contained approximately 10,000 bees (van Veen & Sommeijer 2000).…”

Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Natural History of Nest Defence in a Stingless Bee, Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), with Two Distinct Types of Entrance Guards

Grüter¹,

Kärcher²,

Ratnieks³

2011

Neotrop. entomol.

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The stingless bee Tetragonsica angustula (Latreille) is the only social bee known that has two different types of nest entrance guards. As in other stingless bees and the honey bee one type stands on, in or near the nest entrance. The second type, so far only known in T. angustula, hovers near the nest entrance. In order to gain further understanding of this unique situation we studied guarding behaviour in both types of guards. Using marked bees, we found that individual worker bees guarded for a long time, up to 20 days, relative to their short, average c. 21 day, lifespan. Relatively few, 33%, individually marked guards were seen performing both types of guarding. The others only acted as standing guards. The bees that did perform both types did so over similar periods of their life. Hovering bouts were 57 min long, interrupted by breaks inside the hive of a few minutes (3.3 ± 1.5 min). Standing bouts were slightly longer (74 min) and also interrupted by short breaks (7.82 ± 6.45 min). Human breath, mimicking a vertebrate intruder, caused the guards to retreat into the nest rather than to attack the intruder. Some colonies protected themselves against intruders by closing the entrance during the night (32% and 56% of colonies during two nights). In summary, our results indicate that nest entrance guarding in T. angustula involves division of labour between the two types, in which most guarding individuals only act as standing guards.

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Colony reproduction in Tetragonisca angustula (Apidae, Meliponini)

Cited by 55 publications

References 11 publications

A morphologically specialized soldier caste improves colony defense in a neotropical eusocial bee

A morphologically specialized soldier caste improves colony defense in a neotropical eusocial bee

Conflict Resolution in Insect Societies

The Natural History of Nest Defence in a Stingless Bee, Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), with Two Distinct Types of Entrance Guards

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