Studies on Paratrigona subnuda (Moure) Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae - II. Behaviour of the virgin queen

Fonseca, Vera Regina J. R. M.

doi:10.11606/issn.2526-3358.bolzoo.1977.121695

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The competitive behaviour between gynes leads to either elimination of excess queens under queen-right conditions, or acceptance of the gyne in case of supersedure (Koedam et al, 1995b). They assume that pheromones released by abdominal glands which are exposed when the abdomen of gynes becomes enlarged, may play an important role in the acceptance of the virgin queen by workers, as was also found for M. marginata and M. quadrifasciata (Cruz-Landim and Mota, 1990;Imperatriz-Fonseca and Zucchi, 1995) and for Paratrigona subnuda (Cruz-Landim et al, 1980;Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1977). Acceptance of a gyne may occur from a few hours up to until one week after emergence, depending on the condition of the colony and its queen (Kerr et al, 1962;Koedam et al, 1995a;Silva et al, 1972;Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1977, 1978Imperatriz-Fonseca and Zucchi, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…As emergency queen rearing is unknown in stingless bees because of the mass-provisioning system (Sakagami, 1982), gynes are produced regularly throughout the year (Engels and Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1990;Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1977, 1978Van Veen et al, 1992). Surplus queens of Melipona are usually eliminated by workers after a short period, although occasionally they are tolerated, causing an oligogynous colony state (Engels and Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1990;Sommeijer, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Behavioural development and abdomen inflation of gynes and newly mated queens of Melipona beecheii (Apidae, Meliponinae)

1999

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The behaviour of gynes of Melipona beecheii in queen-deprived colonies was studied. The period after emergence until acceptance is characterized by agonistic behaviour of workers towards the gynes. The gynes escaped from this worker aggression by hiding in the periphery of the nest, by performing rapid turn-arounds once grabbed by a worker, and "feigning death". Between acceptance and nuptial flight, gynes spent most of their time in pushing, hiding, and antennal contact with workers, and self-grooming or food solicitation. After the nuptial flight the queen's behavioural repertoire shifted to less pushing and food solicitation, to an increase in standing, tapping and antennal contact.Accepted gynes had a significantly more prolonged abdomen inflation than gynes that were eliminated.An hypothesis is presented to explain how abdomen enlargement and behavioural development influences the acceptance of gynes and the establishment of a dominance relation with workers under queenless conditions.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural development and abdomen inflation of gynes and newly mated queens of Melipona beecheii (Apidae, Meliponinae)

1999

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The duration of closure varies considerably, from days to months. More than 1 royal chamber in 1 colony has been observed at the same time in Plebeia and Schwarziana (Juliani, 1962; (Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1977), P droryana (Silva, 1972), P remota (Van Benthem and Imperatriz-Fonseca, unpublished data), P wittmannii (Freitas, 1994) and F languida (Ribeiro, 1989 In the case of P droryana (Silva, 1972) and P wittmanni (Freitas, 1994), a new queen may be chosen and mated so as to supersede while the old queen is still active in egg laying. Both will coexist for a time, and both oviposit over a few days.…”

Section: Behaviour Of Virgin Queens In Meliponinimentioning

confidence: 95%

“…After having been chosen by the colony, the gynes help to eliminate the queen. During the supersedure process, which is not always successful for the gyne, yellowish mandibular or fecal substances are often liberated on the comb, or elsewhere in the colony (Simões, 1974;Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1977;Simões and Bego, 1979;Bego, 1989;Ribeiro, 1989).…”

Section: Behaviour Of Virgin Queens In Meliponinimentioning

confidence: 99%

Virgin queens in stingless bee (Apidae, Meliponinae) colonies: a review

Imperatriz-Fonseca¹,

Zucchi²

1995

Apidologie

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The virgin queen acts directly in the natural queen replacement, being selected by the workers before the queen's supersedure (Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1977).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studies on Paratrigona subnuda (Moure) Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae - III: queen supersedure

Fonseca¹

1978

Bol. Zool. (Online)

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper the process o f queen supersedure is described for Paratrigona subnuda (Moure), and some considerations on the conditions under which that process was observed are reported. The virgin queen plays a definite part in the natural replacement o f the fertilized queen o f the colony, because the process o f substitution is started by the virgin queen when she drops an amount o f her mandibular gland secretion onto the body o f the physogastric queen o f the colony, who then begins to be intensily licked by the workers. Generally the laying queen presents a particular defense behaviour; she only grooms herself, probably spreading in this way her own pheromones over her body.The workers o f P. subnuda court the physogastric queen by moving to and fro, but normally they do not lick her as it occurs in Apis. Sometimes the queen was observed accompanied by an unusual court, and ten or more workers licked her body strongly. At the beginning o f the substitu tion process, the court o f the queen increases with the participation o f workers belonging to the vir gin queen's court. They lick the virgin queen's secretion delivered on the physogastric queen's bo dy. At this time the virgin queen is very active: she moves throughout the colony and when she stops many workers encircle her, lick the tip o f her abdomen and begin trophallaxis with her. When the number o f workers that lick the physogastric queen decreases, the virgin queen goes toward the laying queen's body and delivers some secretion over it again.In the first phase the frequency o f visits o f the virgin queen to the physogastric queen in creases gradually. Later the virgin queen's visits occur less often, until the workers that lick the physo gastric queen's body begin to attack her. Generally her body is cut into pieces, starting with the abdominal glands on the terga, and she is thus eliminated from the colony.Although the attempts to replace the physogastric queen are part o f the normal life cycle o f the virgin queens, supersedure is not often observed. It is important to consider that when the laying queen is more attractive than the virgin queen, she is not disturbed by the latter's secretions. Then the workers that encircle her kill the virgin queen. 154 Vera Lúcia Im peratriz FonsecaThe queen supersedure occurs frequently when the colony is swarming. At this time many V irg in queens are together in the colony, and the relationships between several Virgin queens and queen supersedure has already been explained. Queens that have suffered injury are also superseded, but the mechanism o f the substitution is a different one: the virgin queen shows no active role in it. RESUMONesse trabalho a substituição natural de rainha em Paratrigona subnuda (Moure) e as condi ções em que esse processo ocorre, são descritas.A rainha virgem (Vq) atrativa tem uma participação ativa na substituição natural da rainha fecundada (Q) da colônia, pois o processo é iniciado quando a Vq coloca uma gota de sua subs tância mandibular sobre o corpo da Q da col...

show abstract

Studies on Paratrigona subnuda (Moure) Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae - II. Behaviour of the virgin queen

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Behavioural development and abdomen inflation of gynes and newly mated queens of Melipona beecheii (Apidae, Meliponinae)

Behavioural development and abdomen inflation of gynes and newly mated queens of Melipona beecheii (Apidae, Meliponinae)

Virgin queens in stingless bee (Apidae, Meliponinae) colonies: a review

Studies on Paratrigona subnuda (Moure) Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae - III: queen supersedure

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About