Detection of diploid males in a natural colony of the cleptobiotic bee Lestrimelitta sp (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Abstract

When working at quantifying the genome size of stingless bees, it was observed that males of Lestrimelitta sp possessed the same amount of nuclear DNA as the females. Thus, we used flow cytometry (FCM) and cytogenetic analysis to confirm the ploidy of these individuals. The males analyzed proved to be diploid, since, through cytometric analysis, it was demonstrated that the mean genome size of both males and females was the same (C = 0.463 pg), and, furthermore, cytogenetic analysis demonstrated that both had 2n = 28 chromosomes.

Genome size diversity in stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini)

“…The data obtained in the present study substantially extend knowledge about stingless bees' genome size. Their mean haploid genome size (0.54 pg±0.17) is within the range previously described for S. xantotricha (Lopes et al, 2009), 17 Melipona (Lopes et al, 2009;Tavares et al, 2010a), and one Lestrimelitta species (Tavares et al, 2010b). It should be noted, however, that when all the 45 stingless bees that have had their genome size estimated are analyzed together, their average genome size rises to 0.61±0.27 pg.…”

“…This result, together with data from Lestrimelitta sp. (Tavares et al, 2010b), suggests that the technique of flow cytometry can be used to distinguish between haploid and diploid stingless bees males.…”

Pleistocene climate changes shaped the population structure of Partamona seridoensis (Apidae, Meliponini), an endemic stingless bee from the Neotropical dry forest

“…seridoensis using nuclear markers [ 12 ]. Like most Hymenopterans, stingless bees have a single multiallele locus that controls sex determination [ 26 , 69 , 70 ], in which hemizygous individuals are males, whereas diploid individuals that are heterozygous will develop into females and those homozygous at this sex locus will be diploid males [ 71 ]. Thus, this model predicts that inbreeding should produce diploids males that are highly harmful to colonies and populations.…”

Studies on the Karyotype of the AntPachycondyla harpax(Formicidae: Ponerinae: Ponerini) in Southern Bahia, Brazil

“…Crozier & Pamilo (1996) recorded 17 cases of diploid males in ants, and although they are generally considered sterile (Cournault & Aron 2009), they do appear to be fertile in some species (Crozier & Pamilo 1996;Krieger et al 1999;Yamauchi et al 2001). The occurrence of diploid males has also been reported in more than 60 species of Hymenoptera, including several species of bees (solitary and social), wasps, and ants (Van Wilgenburg et al 2006;Heimpel & Boer 2008;Tavares et al 2010). All this suggests the occurrence of diploid males is a normal occurrence in the haplodiploid system, but it remains a rare event (within the context of the life span of a species).…”

“…A range of cytogenetic studies have been conducted in several insect orders (Hoshiba & Imai 1993;Van Wilgenburg et al 2006;Poggio et al 2007;Tavares et al 2010;Mariano et al 2012), providing information independent from morphological characters, commonly used for taxonomic studies, that may reveal differences and/or similarities between organisms with a priori indistinguishable characters (Sessions 1996). In the Formicidae, Lorite & Palomeque (2010) reported chromosomal variation in over 750 morphospecies of ants, rendering the family the highest in chromosomal variability amongst the insects.…”