Numbers of spermatozoa in queens and drones indicate multiple mating of queens in Apis andreniformis and Apis dorsata

Abstract

Summary — Drones of Apis dorsata had an average of 2.46•10 6 spermatozoa in their vesiculae seminales. Two queens had 3.67•10 6 spermatozoa in their spermathecae. In A adreniformis, drones had an average of 0.13•10 6 and the spermathecae of 2 queens contained 0.98 and 1.09•10 6 spermatozoa. In both A dorsata and A andreniformis the spermathecae of queens contained more spermatozoa than the vesiculae seminales of a single drone of either species. Therefore, we conclude that multiple mating occurs in both species as is the case for A mellifera, A cerana and A florea. multiple mating / spermatozoon / Apis andreniformis / Apis dorsata

Variance in spermatozoa number among Apis dorsata drones and among Apis mellifera drones

“…The highest number counted in the present study was 2.04 × 10 6 and in the study of Tan et al (1996) it was 2.65 × 10 6 . The study of Koeniger et al (1990) aimed to demonstrate that A. dorsata queens mated more than once and was not intended to represent the average number of spermatozoa for drones in A dorsata species.…”

Mating flights and sperm transfer in the dwarf honeybee Apis andreniformis (Smith, 1858)

“…The concentration of spermatozoa (million/mm 3 ) in the spermatheca is similar in all studied species: concentrations of fully mated, ovipositing queens normally range between 3 and 5 million/mm 3 [5]. In A. andreniformis up to 1.26 million spermatozoa were counted in the spermatheca with volumes of about 0.28 mm 3 , which corresponds to 4.63 million spermatozoa per 1 mm 3 [5]. There are no reported sperm numbers of queens that have successfully initiated oviposition after mating flights.…”

“…In 2 ovipositing queens, sperm numbers in the spermathecae were counted and compared with the sperm number from the vesiculae seminales of drones [5]. According to these sperm counts, it was suggested that queens mate a minimum of 8 times.…”

“…The results of this study suggest that in A. andreniformis between 70 and 80% of the spermatozoa from the first drones reach the spermatheca. Comparing the average number of matings (13.5; [14]) and the average number of spermatozoa in the vesiculae seminales (0.13 million; [5]) and in the spermatheca (0.78 million; Tab. III), each drone could transfer an average of 0.05 million spermatozoa, which corresponds to about 40% of their spermatozoa.…”

“…La spermathèque de la troisième reine renfermait 0,31 million de spermatozoïdes, soit 79 % des spermatozoïdes produits par trois mâles. Si l'on prend pour base le nombre moyen des accouplements [14], le nombre moyen de spermatozoïdes dans les vésicules séminales [5] …”