A test of information use by reproductive bumblebee workers

Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos; Koning, J. Will; Jordan, William Chester; Bourke, Andrew F. G.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.01.007

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…This suggests that reduced external mortality in our samples is unlikely to have substantially affected the life-history decisions of colonies. Instead, the strong resemblance between our samples is consistent with previous demographic (Archer, 1981;Martin, 1991Martin, , 1995Mü ller et al, 1992;Bourke, 1997;Duchateau et al, 2004) and experimental (Beekman & Van Stratum, 2000;Cnaani et al, 2000;Lopez-Vaamonde et al, 2004b;Alaux et al, 2005;Liebig et al, 2005) data suggesting that traits of colony queens exert a large influence on colony life history in Bombus species in particular and annual social insects in general. Variation evident within our samples (Fig.…”

Section: Lifetime Reproductive Success In Bumblebees 991supporting

confidence: 91%

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Lifetime reproductive success and longevity of queens in an annual social insect

Lopez-Vaamonde

Raine

Koning

et al. 2009

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Although central to understanding life-history evolution, the relationship between lifetime reproductive success and longevity remains uncertain in many organisms. In social insects, no studies have reported estimates of queens’ lifetime reproductive success and longevity within populations, despite the importance of understanding how sociality and associated within-group conflict affect life-history traits. To address this issue, we studied two samples of colonies of the annual bumblebee, Bombus terrestris audax, reared from wild-caught queens from a single population. In both samples, queens’ lifetime reproductive success, measured as either queens’ inclusive fitness or as total biomass of queen-produced sexuals (new queens and males), was significantly positively associated with queen longevity, measured from the day the first worker was produced. We suggest that a positive relationship between reproductive success and longevity was inherited from nonsocial ancestors showing parental care and maintained, at least in part, because the presence of workers buffers queens against extrinsic mortality

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Section: Lifetime Reproductive Success In Bumblebees 991supporting

confidence: 91%

“…, 2004) and experimental (Beekman & Van Stratum, 2000; Cnaani et al. , 2000; Lopez‐Vaamonde et al. , 2004b; Alaux et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lifetime reproductive success and longevity of queens in an annual social insect

Lopez-Vaamonde

Raine

Koning

et al. 2009

J of Evolutionary Biology

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“…Additionally, substances associated with the rearing of queen larvae could also influence the competition-phase wax scent. Several studies of the conflict over male production have suggested that the presence of queen larvae at a later stage of colony development influences the onset of competition over reproduction [16,36,[38][39][40][41] and that a shift in queen signalling might be responsible for the changing fate of diploid larvae [38,40,42]. At the moment, we are testing whether wax also contains chemical compounds that are associated with the queen or with queen larvae.…”

Section: Origin Of Changes In Wax Scent Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These cues might provide information, e.g. on nest population density [14,15,[34][35][36][37], worker/larvae ratio [16] and the caste fate of diploid eggs [28,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. Detailed knowledge of the developmental stage of the colony provided by cues from the nest environment might help workers to maximize their inclusive fitness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nest wax triggers worker reproduction in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

2016

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Social insects are well known for their high level of cooperation. Workers of the primitively eusocial bumblebee Bombus terrestris are able to produce male offspring in the presence of a queen. Nonetheless, they only compete for reproduction, in the so-called competition phase, when the workforce is large enough to support the rearing of reproductives. So far, little is known about the proximate mechanisms underlying the shift between altruism and selfish behaviour in bumblebee workers. In this study, we have examined the influence of chemical cues from the nest wax on the onset of worker reproduction. Chemical analyses of wax extracts have revealed that the patterns and amounts of cuticular lipids change considerably during colony development. These changes in wax scent mirror worker abundance and the presence of fertile workers. In bioassays with queen-right worker groups, wax affects the dominance behaviour and ovarian development of workers. When exposed to wax from a colony in competition phase, workers start to compete for reproduction. We suggest that wax scent enables workers to time their reproduction by providing essential information concerning the social condition of the colony.

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“…Egg-laying by workers takes place in the third phase (Duchateau, 1991;Cnaani et al, 2000). Because workers are haplodiploid, they are capable of producing male offspring from unfertilised, haploid eggs (Lopez-Vaamonde et al, 2004). However, this process is limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship of Weight and Ovarian Development in Bombus terrestris L. Workers under Different Social Conditions

Gösterit

Koşkan

Gürel

2016

Journal of Apicultural Science

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A b s t r a c t Egg-laying behaviour of bumblebee workers is highly flexible and influenced by the bees' social status and social environment. In this study, the dependence of the starting time of ovarian development in Bombus terrestris workers was determined under four different social conditions. The purpose was to test the effect of group stimulation and the presence of a queen on ovarian development. The relationship between weight and the commencement of ovarian development in workers was also investigated. We created four test groups: (1) 8 callow workers with a queen, (2) 8 callow workers without a queen, (3) 1 callow worker with a queen, and (4) 1 callow worker without a queen. Mated and hibernated (freshly awoken) B. terrestris queens made up Group 1 and 3. There was no significant difference between the starting times of ovarian development in the experimental groups composed of 8 callow workers in queenright (9.81 ± 2.44 days) and queenless (9.53 ± 2.53 days) conditions. However, ovaries of workers confined singly with a queen started to develop significantly earlier (11.77 ± 3.30 days) than workers confined singly without a queen (14.70 ± 3.56 days). The observations indicate that the presence of a queen does not inhibit the ovarian development of workers. The PointBiserial Correlation Coefficient between the starting of ovarian development in workers and their weight was −0.013. However, there was a positive correlation between the weight and the ovarian developmental status of workers in groups containing 8 workers.

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A test of information use by reproductive bumblebee workers

Cited by 9 publications

References 45 publications

Lifetime reproductive success and longevity of queens in an annual social insect

Lifetime reproductive success and longevity of queens in an annual social insect

Nest wax triggers worker reproduction in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

The Relationship of Weight and Ovarian Development in Bombus terrestris L. Workers under Different Social Conditions

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