Reproductive biology and morphology of Apis mellifera jemenitica (Apidae) queens and drones

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the important reproductive biology and morphology of A.m. jemenitica queens and drones through measuring the weight of virgin and mated queens, size and weight of spermathecae, weight of ovaries, number of ovarioles, quantity and viability of semen in queen and drones. Accordingly, the average weights of 0.139 ± 0.01 g and 0.143 ± 0.013 g recorded for virgin and mated queens respectively. The sizes of spermathecae were 1.248 ± 0.103 mm and 1.25 ± 0.022 mm for virgin and mated queens respectively. The mean weight of ovaries was 0.013 ± 0.003 g and the numbers of ovarioles varied from 124 to 163 with the mean of 142.9 ± 9.47 and with no significant difference between virgin and mated queens. The average number of stored sperm per spermathecae of mated queen was estimated to be 4.202 ± 0.613 million with the viability of 80.39%. The average number of sperm per drone recorded was 8,763,950 ± 1,633,203.15 with viability of 79.54 ± 6.70%. In general, the current study revealed that the values recorded for reproductive biology and morphological characters of A. m. jemenitica queens and drones were relatively lower than values recorded for other Apis mellifera races. This mainly could be associated with the body size of the race which is known to be the smallest race among A. mellifera races. Moreover, the harsh environmental conditions of the regions, high temperature, low humidity and limited resources may have contributed for the smaller biological and morphological values. The information will serve as a base in future selection and breeding of program of the race.

The relationship between the internal and external morphological parameters of honeybee queens (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and the determination of morphological variation

“…The thorax width averages were higher than those reported by Okuyan & Akyol (2018) and Rangel et al (2013) and similar to the results of the study by Faccini et al (2021). The averages of the right forewing length and the right forewing width were lower than the results of the study by Okuyan &Akyol (2018) andFaccini et al (2021) and similar to the results of the study by Al-Sarhan et al (2019). According to the results of a previous study (Ozmen Ozbakır, 2021), the right forewing and the hindwing characteristics were similar to the results of the current study, while the right hindleg length was found to be higher in the current study.…”

“…The relationship between the morphological features of the queen (such as head, thorax, wing, leg, and reproductive organ characteristics) were also used to explain queen quality. Queen ovary weight and number of ovarioles, spermatheca diameter and volume, and spermatozoid number in the spermatheca have been investigated by many researchers (Gregorc & Smodis Skerl, 2015;Al-Sarhan et al, 2019;Walsh et al, 2021). For example, a significant correlation was found between thorax width, stored sperm count, and mating frequency (Delaney et al, 2011).…”

Honey bee (Apis mellifera jemenitica) colony performance and queen fecundity in response to different nutritional practices

“…The sharp decline of A. m. jemenitica is documented by Al-Ghamdi et al (2017) . It is associated with a mated queen’s low reproductive potential or fecundity ( Al-Sarhan et al, 2019 ).…”

Assessment of Genetic Variation in Apis nigrocincta (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Sulawesi Revealed by Partial Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I Gene Sequences

“…e observed morphological characters included length of following parts: head (HD), antenna (AT), proboscis (PB), thorax (TO), abdomen (AB), fore-wing (FW), hind-wing (FL), midleg (ML), and hind-leg (HL) using a caliper [8].…”