Gigantism in honeybees: Apis cerana queens reared in mixed-species colonies

Tan, Ken; Hepburn, H. R.; He, Shuhua; Radloff, Sarah E.; Neumann, Peter; Fang, Xiang

doi:10.1007/s00114-006-0113-2

Cited by 17 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…and, reciprocally, three colonies were headed by A. mellifera queens. Sealed brood about to emerge as young adults of each species was placed in the colonies of the other species (Tan et al, 2006). Wax-building behaviour was investigated when the newly emerged workers of the two species were about 10-18 days old, the peak age of wax secretion (Rösch, 1927;Hepburn et al, 1984;Seeley, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comb construction in mixed-species colonies of honeybees,Apis ceranaandApis mellifera

Yang

Tan

Radloff

et al. 2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Mixed colonies of both Apis cerana L. and Apis mellifera L. workers were established. Three colonies were headed by A. cerana queens; SUMMARYComb building in mixed-species colonies of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera was studied. Two types of cell-size foundation were made from the waxes of these species and inserted into mixed colonies headed either by an A. cerana or an A. mellifera queen. The colonies did not discriminate between the waxes but the A. cerana cell-size foundation was modified during comb building by the workers of both species. In pure A. cerana colonies workers did not accept any foundation but secreted wax and built on foundation in mixed colonies. Comb building is performed by small groups of workers through a mechanism of self-organisation. The two species cooperate in comb building and construct nearly normal combs but they contain many irregular cells. In pure A. mellifera colonies, the A. cerana cell size was modified and the queens were reluctant to lay eggs on such combs. In pure A. cerana colonies, the A. mellifera cell size was built without any modification but these cells were used either for drone brood rearing or for food storing. The principal elements of comb-building behaviour are common to both species, which indicates that they evolved prior to and were conserved after speciation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comb construction in mixed-species colonies of honeybees,Apis ceranaandApis mellifera

Yang

Tan

Radloff

et al. 2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…one A. mellifera comb was put into each of the three A. cerana colonies and one A. cerana combs into each of the A. mellifera colonies. Newly emerged young adult bees are readily accepted by the host colonies and so the mixed colonies are constituted (Tan et al, 2006). Three pure A. mellifera colonies and three A. cerana colonies served as control groups and each contained enough newly emerging adult workers of the same age as those which were introduced into interspecific colonies.…”

Section: Organization Of the Mixed Coloniesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hetero-specific queen retinue behavior of worker bees in mixed-species colonies ofApis ceranaandApis mellifera

et al. 2009

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The retinue behavior of worker bees of Apis cerana cerana and Apis mellifera ligustica in two types of mixed-species colonies were studied to determine whether observed behaviors are pre-or post-speciation developments. In A. cerana queen-led mixed colonies, almost equal numbers of A. cerana workers (53.4±7.4) and A. mellifera workers (51.2±8.1) attended the A. cerana queen; while in A. mellifera queen-led mixed colonies, the A. mellifera queen attracted significantly fewer (47.8±5.9) A. cerana workers than A. mellifera workers (51.9 ± 4.6). Thus about 100 workers in total were attracted to each queen. In pure A. cerana and A. mellifera colonies, the queen attracted 105.8 ± 9.1 and 107.8 ± 11.2 workers, respectively, there being no significant difference between them. Only the pheromones 9-ODA, 9-HDA and 10-HDA of the queens were significantly different and the workers did not show avoidance behavior to either heterospecific queen. Both species of workers were attracted by the queens and engaged in retinue behavior, suggesting that the retinue response was not related to a specific queen pheromone or colony environment. This non-specific queen retinue behavior in the mixed colonies indicates that the queen pheromones can be transmitted among the workers from the two species without any obstacles. We conclude that retinue behavior itself as well as the pheromones of the queens that induce this behavior are both primitive, conserved traits that preceded speciation in apine bees. Apis cerana / Apis mellifera / retinue behavior / queen pheromones

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“…Since the beginning of the last century, artificially formed mixed colonies have been used for bionomics studies in ants (Forel, 1923apud Nogueira-Neto, 1950Carlin and Hölldobler, 1983;Errard, 1984;Vienne et al, 1992), termites (Dropkin, 1946) and bees (Plath, 1934;Munakata and Sakagami, 1958;Tan et al, 2006). Kerr (1948apud Nogueira-Neto, 1950 was the first to produce such artificial mixed colonies in stingless bees, joining two species of the genus Melipona.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A mixed colony of Scaptotrigona depilis and Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponina)

Menezes

Hrncir²,

Kerr³

2009

Genet. Mol. Res.

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AbstrACt. We describe a case of a spontaneously established mixed colony of two species of stingless bees. The host colony of Scaptotrigona depilis, an aggressive bee that forms large colonies, was invaded by workers of Nannotrigona testaceicornis, a smaller bee that forms small colonies. The host colony and the invading species colony were maintained in next boxes about 1.5 m apart. The N. testaceicornis colony had been recently divided. Observations were made daily for 10 min, and every two weeks the colony was opened for observations within the nest. Initially the host colony bees repulsed the invading species, but as their numbers built up, they were no longer able to defend the entrance. An estimated 60-90 N. testaceicornis workers lived integrated into the colony of S. depilis for 58 days. During this period, they reconstructed and maintained the entrance tube, changing it to an entrance typical of N. testaceicornis. They also collected food and building material for the host colony. Nannotrigona testaceicornis tolerated transit of S. depilis through the entrance, but did not allow the host species to remain within the tube, though the attacks never resulted in bee mortality. Aggression was limited to biting the wings; when the bees fell to the ground they immediately separated and flew back. There have been very few reports of spontaneously occurring mixed stingless bee colonies. It is difficult to determine what caused the association that we found; probably workers of N. testaceicornis got lost when we split their colony, and then they invaded the colony of S. depilis.

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Gigantism in honeybees: Apis cerana queens reared in mixed-species colonies

Cited by 17 publications

References 12 publications

Comb construction in mixed-species colonies of honeybees,Apis ceranaandApis mellifera

Comb construction in mixed-species colonies of honeybees,Apis ceranaandApis mellifera

Hetero-specific queen retinue behavior of worker bees in mixed-species colonies ofApis ceranaandApis mellifera

A mixed colony of Scaptotrigona depilis and Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponina)

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