Nest-mate recognition in Manuelia postica (Apidae: Xylocopinae): an eusocial trait is present in a solitary bee

Abstract

In eusocial Hymenoptera, females are more tolerant towards nest-mate than towards non-nest-mate females. In solitary Hymenoptera, females are generally aggressive towards any conspecific female. Field observations of the nest biology of Manuelia postica suggested nest-mate recognition. Experiments were performed involving two live interacting females or one live female interacting with a dead female. Live females from different nests were more intolerant to each other than females from the same nest. Females were more intolerant towards non-nest-mate than towards nest-mate dead females. When dead females were washed with pentane, no differences in tolerant and intolerant behaviours were detected between non-nest-mate and nest-mate females. Females were more intolerant towards nest-mate female carcasses coated with the cuticular extract from a non-nest-mate than towards non-nest-mate female carcasses coated with the cuticular extract from a nest-mate. The compositions of the cuticular extracts was more similar between females from the same nest than between females from different nests. The results demonstrate for the first time nest-mate recognition mediated by cuticular chemicals in a largely solitary species of Apidae. The position of Manuelia at the base of the Apidae phylogeny suggests that nest-mate recognition in eusocial species apical to Manuelia represents the retention of a primitive capacity in Apidae.

Cheating and punishment in cooperative animal societies

“…Furthermore, brood cannibalism and aggression among reproductive females is likely ancestral to eusociality in Hymenoptera; both solitary and primitively eusocial taxa often engage in these behaviours (e.g. [68,[92][93][94][95][96][97]). This suggests that worker policing is not a de novo adaptation in highly social lineages like Apis, but instead evolved in the context of a pre-existing behavioural repertoire that included egg eating and aggression among females.…”

Chemical basis of nest-mate discrimination in the ant Formica exsecta

“…Recognition plays a critical role in the evolution of cooperative behaviour (Hamilton 1964), since the ability to discriminate between related and non-related individuals ensures that aggressive and altruistic behaviours are directed towards the correct individuals. Although nest-mate recognition is widespread among eusocial insects and has been found in a solitary bee ( Manuelia postica;Flores-Prado et al 2008), theoretical studies ( Rousset & Roze 2007) show that kin recognition may not exist. However, the underlying mechanisms of both nest-mate and kin recognition remain poorly understood.…”

Kin recognition in a subsocial treehopper (Hemiptera: Membracidae)

“…The presence or absence of a compound in the chromatogram was determined following Flores-Prado et al (2008) and Aguilera-Olivares et al (2016), by identifying compounds based on comparisons of their retention index and mass spectrum with those in the NIST14 database, with authentic standards (when available) and, eventually, with data from the literature (Flores-Prado et al, 2008;Cocchiararo-Bastias et al, 2011;Calderón-Fernández & Juárez, 2013;Beran et al, 2014;El-Sayed, 2014;Aguilera-Olivares et al, 2016). Then, 4 l of the re-dissolved extracts were injected in a Shimadzu model GCMS-QP 2010 Ultra gas chromatograph (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) equipped with an Rtx-5MS Crossbond 5% diphenyl 95% dimethyl polysiloxane (Restek, Bellefonte, Philadelphia) capillary gas chromatograph (GC) column (length 30 m, internal diameter 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 m) and used in the splitless mode.…”