Differences in quantity of food in worker and male brood cells ofScaptotrigona postica (Latr. 1807) (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Beig, Darvin; Bueno, Odair Corrêa; Cunha, Rubens Alves da; Moraes, H. Jorge de

doi:10.1007/bf02228751

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Finally, an arms race is consistent with the fact that reproducing workers use varying methods to reproduce, even within the same species. Workers have been observed to lay reproductive eggs before the queen would lay her egg in M. fasciata, M. favosa, M. subnitida, M. trinitatis, S. postica and S. barrocoloradensis (Beig et al, 1982;van Buren and Sommeijer, 1992;Inoue et al, 1999, Koedam et al, 1999Chinh et al, 2003). Workers also laid right after queen oviposition while closing a cell in M. subnitida, S. postica and F. schrottkyi (Beig, 1972, Beig do reproduce may be more influenced by variation in factors like costs and benefits.…”

Section: Queen Policing Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict over male parentage in stingless bees

Tóth

Queller

Dollin³

et al. 2004

Insectes Sociaux

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Stingless bees usually have one, singly-mated queen. This can lead to a genetic conflict of interest between the queen and the non-laying workers over who should produce the males. In many stingless bee species workers have developed ovaries and can produce male-destined eggs. In this study we compile the available data on who produces the males in stingless bees. Worker reproduction is common but less frequent than expected from predictions built on relatedness-based preferences of non-laying workers. We tested whether the pattern in worker reproduction can be explained best by queen control, by an arms race between workers and their queen, by the costs of losing workers to reproductive competition, or by phylogenetic constraints. The data are consistent with the view that there is ongoing conflict over male production that is resolved differently depending on the specific dynamics of costs and benefits of worker reproduction. There was also a role for phylogeny; Melipona workers often reproduced while Plebeia and Australian stingless bee workers seldom or never did. The high worker reproduction in Melipona may reflect low costs, because many of the replaced queen-laid eggs would become excess queens. * Some researchers classify M. panamica to include: M. fasciata, M. rufiventris, and M. burnea (Inoue et al., 1999).

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