She’s my girl - male accessory gland products and their function in the reproductive biology of social bees

Abstract

-Male accessory gland products have become a major issue in insect reproduction. They are a means of transport for sperm and can form a mating plug, and also have specific compounds that can modify the behavior and physiology of mated females. We briefly review the structure and function of accessory gland products in insects, especially in the fruitfly and some orthopterans and lepidopterans, and draw parallels to what is currently known in social bees. The structure of the mating sign differs considerably in this group. In bumble bees it consists of a viscous mass of a dipeptide and fatty acids, with linoleic acid affecting female behavior. The honey bees show considerable species-specific variation in their mating signs. In the cavity-dwelling species it is the mucus gland which provides the mass of the mating sign, and this glands undergoes a hormonally controlled sexual maturation in its program of protein synthesis. The stingless bees lack mucus glands altogether, and their mating sign consists of the ruptured genital capsule of the male. We discuss the structure of the mating sign and of its components in relation to the mating and reproductive biology of these groups of highly eusocial bees.honeybee / bumblebee / Meliponini / reproductive tract / mating sign / Apis / Bombus

Differences in drone and worker physiology in honeybees (Apis mellifera)

“…In A. mellifera drones the mucus is pressed into the endophallus to enable a strong connection between drone and queen during the mating process . As discussed by Colonello and Hartfelder (2003) mucus gland proteins seem to play an additional role in the stimulation of oogenesis / oviposition (see also Colonello and Hartfelder, 2005), as might other bioactive mucus gland factors or a mechanical stimulatory effect of the everted endophallus in the queen's bursa copulatrix (Koeniger, 1976(Koeniger, , 1981. While A. mellifera invests in high amounts of mucus proteins and high numbers of spermatozoa (10-12 million), another Apis species, A. florea, produces little mucus and smaller numbers of spermatozoa (0.44 million).…”

Male mating behaviour and mating systems of bees: an overview

“…Evidence for single mating by females of many bumble bee species is convincing (SchmidHempel and Schmid-Hempel, 2000), and there is good observational (Duvoisin et al, 1999) and experimental (Sauter et al, 2001) data demonstrating the role of a mating plug inserted by Bombus terrestris males into the reproductive tract of queens during copulation and following sperm transfer (reviewed in Ayasse et al, 2001;Colonello and Hartfelder, 2005). However, other bumble bees such as Bombus hypnorum ) are known to mate with two or more males (see also Payne et al, 2003).…”

Sperm viability in the male accessory testes and female spermathecae of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…The mating plug disappears and its inhibitory effect on mating declines after a few days (Sauter et al, 2001). Male accessory gland products vary among different social bees but are known from all major groups and can modify the behaviour and physiology of females (Colonello & Hartfelder, 2005). Similar functions for male gland products are recorded for the best-investigated insect, Drosophila melanogaster (Wolfner, 2002).…”