Evolution of Color Pattern and Pubescence Characteristics in Male Bumblebees: Automimicry vs. Thermoregulation

Stiles, Edmund W.

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1979.tb04748.x

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Thus the presence of contrasting colour marks suggests that when thermal melanism is operative, there is a compromise with selection promoting warning coloration and mimicry. Similar compromises have been suggested for species of Heliconius, Bombus and Eristulis (Turner, 1977;Stiles, 1979;Heal, 1982). Creed's (1966Creed's ( , 1971a surveys of A. bipunctutu in Britain showed a general association of industrial regions with high frequencies of melanics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Polymorphic Müllerian mimicry and interactions with thermal melanism in ladybirds and a soldier beetle: a hypothesis

Brakefield

1985

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

121

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I t is argued that groups of similarly coloured species of coccinellids are Miillerian mimicry rings. This is based on a synthesis of the literature about the nature of their biology and aposematic colour patterns, their highly developed chemical defence and the responses of bird predators to them. The system of multiple mimicry 'rings' is illustrated for the Dutch coccinellid fauna. Some polymorphic species, including Adufiu, exhibit red forms and black melanic forms which are apparently components of different putative mimicry rings. A similar reasoning is put forward with regard to the orange and the black forms of the soldier beetle Cunfhuris fiuidu. Hypotheses involving spatial variation in comimics, as have been developed to account for some other cases of polymorphic Miillerian mimicry, predict that sympatric polymorphic species exhibiting similar sets of phenotypes will show parallels in their geographical variation. This is tested for A . bipuncfufu and A . decempuncfafu in The Netherlands. On this local scale there is no parallel variation; A . bipuncfutu exhibits marked geographical differentiation whereas A . decmpuncfufu shows a general uniformity in morph frequency. Observations on their population biology show that only in A . bipuncfafu is there a major spring period of adult reproduction on shrubs exposed to direct sunshine. Previous work has demonstrated an influence of thermal melanism in this period of the life cycle. It is suggested that local responses in species such as A. bipuncfufu may reflect a partial 'escape' from stabilizing aposematic selection. The basis of a steep cline found in C. liuidu, which opposes one in A. bipunctuta, is unknown and unlikely to be related to mimicry. There is some evidence that the polymorphism is influenced by non-random mating. When species and communities of coccinellids are considered on a wide geographical scale many observations about their colour patterns and spatial variation, especially those of Dobzhansky, support an interaction between selection favouring mimetic resemblance and forms of climatic selection, especially thermal melanism. The polymorphism in Aduliu is discussed in relation to a system of multiple mimicry rings and to Thompson's recent theoretical treatment of the maintenance of some polymorphisms for warning coloration by a balance between aposematic and apostatic selection. This becomes more tenable in coccinellids because of evidence that bird predators show a variable response to them. Frequency-independent selection arising from thermal melanism can provide the basis of spatial variation in equilibrium points. An alternative to such a hypothesis is one in which differences in unpalatability between species of coccinellids are emphasized (after experiments of Pasteels and colleagues). Some less unpalatable species such as Aduliu may have responded to periods of prolonged disruptive selection acting in a frequency-dependent way to promote polymorphic mimicry associated with different modal colour patterns and intermediate in nature...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Polymorphic Müllerian mimicry and interactions with thermal melanism in ladybirds and a soldier beetle: a hypothesis

Brakefield

1985

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

121

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“…Similarly, males are automimics of their sisters who are protected by their stings (Plowright and Owen, 1980) and are therefore selected to resemble them closely; but there also may exist opposing selective pressures on the same characters (hair length and colour, etc.) which work to reduce the resemblance (Stiles, 1979). Thus situations like example (iv) (table 1) may be quite likely.…”

Section: Ve1jv2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Population genetics of social hymenoptera with worker produced males

Owen

1980

Heredity

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SUMMARYIn many social Hymenoptera, particularly the bees and wasps, a proportion, ', of the males are produced by the workers. Using deterministic theory for a single 'ocus it is shown that having worker produced males affects the speed of approach to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the equilibrium gene frequency under mutation with counter-selection, the speed of elimination of a deleterious allele and the rate of advance of an advantageous gene. Equilibrium gene frequencies of a balanced polymorphism are shifted by a positive value of fi if there are differences between the male viabilities. For certain male and female viabilities polymorphisms can either be extinguished or generated by having worker produced males. The approach to linkage equilibrium at two loci is either accelerated or retarded, though by not very much, depending on the value of ,,1,, and the recombination rate.

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“…Species from warm climates have shorter setae than species from cold climates ( Peat et al, 2005 ), setal length correlates with elevation ( Peters et al, 2016 ), and arctic bumble bees have denser setae on their heads ( Wilby et al, 2019 ). Similarly, Stiles (1979) found that bumble bees are more sexually dimorphic in color and pile features in colder latitudes and altitudes, with males showing longer and less dense pile and lighter coloration than females, a likely adaptation to more extreme weather exposure given that males cannot return to thermostable nests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

The diversity, evolution, and development of setal morphologies in bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus spp.)

Hines

Kilpatrick

István

et al. 2022

PeerJ

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Bumble bees are characterized by their thick setal pile that imparts aposematic color patterns often used for species-level identification. Like all bees, the single-celled setae of bumble bees are branched, an innovation thought important for pollen collection. To date no studies have quantified the types of setal morphologies and their distribution on these bees, information that can facilitate understanding of their adaptive ecological function. This study defines several major setal morphotypes in the common eastern bumble bee Bombus impatiens Cresson, revealing these setal types differ by location across the body. The positions of these types of setae are similar across individuals, castes, and sexes within species. We analyzed the distribution of the two most common setal types (plumose and spinulate) across the body dorsum of half of the described bumble bee species. This revealed consistently high density of plumose (long-branched) setae across bumble bees on the head and mesosoma, but considerable variation in the amount of metasomal plumosity. Variation on the metasoma shows strong phylogenetic signal at subgeneric and smaller group levels, making it a useful trait for species delimitation research, and plumosity has increased from early Bombus ancestors. The distribution of these setal types suggests these setae may serve several functions, including pollen-collecting and thermoregulatory roles, and probable mechanosensory functions. This study further examines how and when setae of the pile develop, evidence for mechanosensory function, and the timing of pigmentation as a foundation for future genetic and developmental research in these bees.

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Evolution of Color Pattern and Pubescence Characteristics in Male Bumblebees: Automimicry vs. Thermoregulation

Cited by 21 publications

References 23 publications

Polymorphic Müllerian mimicry and interactions with thermal melanism in ladybirds and a soldier beetle: a hypothesis

Polymorphic Müllerian mimicry and interactions with thermal melanism in ladybirds and a soldier beetle: a hypothesis

Population genetics of social hymenoptera with worker produced males

The diversity, evolution, and development of setal morphologies in bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus spp.)

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