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

Abstract

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

Chemical Profiles of Two Pheromone Glands Are Differentially Regulated by Distinct Mating Factors in Honey Bee Queens (Apis mellifera L.)

“…For each gland comparison, 8–11 cages were assayed (see below and figure legend for specific numbers of cages used in each comparison). The “retinue assay” has been performed successfully in a number of studies [11] , [37] , [48] – [54] .…”

Longevity, food consumption, and foraging performance of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera in mixed colonies

“…Queen mandibular gland pheromone (QMP) can affect foraging behavior, notably by delaying the foraging age and decreasing the number of returning foragers at a natural dose (Pankiw et al 1998). In present study, Ac workers receive more QMP in mixed species colonies hosted by Am queen than in Ac's own colonies because of Am queens having 45% more QMP than Ac queen (Yang et al 2010b). We however believe that the higher foraging frequency and more foragers in Ac than those in Am is not due to the higher amount of QMP experienced by Ac in mixed species colonies.…”

“…These results suggest that mixed species colonies are useful tools to compare the differences between behaviors of different species of honey bees. But there are differences in comb building (Yang et al 2010a) and retinue behaviors (Yang et al 2010b) when studied in mixed species colonies compared to when in their own colonies. Mixed race colonies with European and Africanized bees were also used for foraging performance (Winston and Katz 1982).…”

“…Mixed species colonies were used to compare different honey bee behaviors in this study. Mixed species colonies with the same numbers of bees in two species, Am and Ac, have been used previously in many studies for different purposes, such as worker reproductive physiology (Tan et al 2009a), brood recognition (Tan et al 2009b), comb building (Yang et al 2010a), retinue behavior (Yang et al 2010b), thermoregulation (Yang et al 2010c), defensive behavior against wasps (Tan et al 2012b), communication using the dance language (Tan et al 2008), and proboscis extension response to sugar solutions (Yang et al 2013). In some of these studies, behaviors in mixed species colonies and in their own colonies were compared.…”

Honeybee Nests

“…Such an experimental context has been successfully used to elucidate disruption of social networks as in ovarial activation (Tan et al 2009), stimulation of social networks, dance language (Tan et al 2008) and retinue behaviour towards queens (Yang et al 2010a). Such an experimental context has been successfully used to elucidate disruption of social networks as in ovarial activation (Tan et al 2009), stimulation of social networks, dance language (Tan et al 2008) and retinue behaviour towards queens (Yang et al 2010a).…”