Adaptive tuning of an extended phenotype: honeybees seasonally shift their honey storage to optimize male production

Smith, Michael L.; Ostwald, Madeleine M.; Seeley, Thomas D.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.01.035

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Spider webs are a primary example of animal architecture, or architectural constructions created by an organism that are involved in fitness‐related process. Architectural constructions have been shown to be plastic in a variety of species (Smith, Ostwald & Seeley ). For example, spiders modify their webs in response to changes in conditions (Blackledge & Zevenbergen , this study).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of developmental experience vs. condition to life history, trait variation and individual differences

DiRienzo

Montiglio

2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

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SUMMARY Developmental experience, for example food abundance during juvenile stages, is known to affect life history and behaviour. However, the life history and behavioural consequences of developmental experience have rarely been studied in concert. As a result it is still unclear whether developmental experience affects behaviour through changes in life history, or independently of it.The effect of developmental experience on life history and behaviour may also be masked or affected by individual condition during adulthood. Thus, it is critical to tease apart the effects of developmental experience and current individual condition on life history and behaviour.In this study we manipulated food abundance during development in the western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus, by rearing spiders on either a restricted or ad lib diet. We separated developmental from condition dependent effects by assaying adult foraging behaviour (tendency to attack prey and to stay on out of the refuge following an attack) and web structure multiple times under different levels of satiation following different developmental treatments.Spiders reared under food restriction matured slower and at a smaller size than spiders reared in ad lib conditions. Spiders reared on a restricted diet were more aggressive towards prey and built webs structured for prey capture while spiders reared on an ad lib diet were less aggressive and build safer webs. Developmental treatment affected which traits were plastic as adults: restricted spiders built safer webs when their adult condition increased, while ad-lib spiders reduced their aggression when their adult condition increased. The amount of individual variation in behaviour and web structure varied with developmental treatment. Spiders reared on a restricted diet exhibited consistent variation in all aspects of foraging behaviour and web structure, while spiders reared on an ad lib diet exhibited consistent individual variation in aggression and web weight only.Developmental experience affected the average life history, behaviour, and web structure of spiders, but also shaped the amount of phenotypic variation observed among individuals. Surprisingly, developmental experience also determined the particular way in which individuals plastically adjusted their behaviour and web structure to changes in adult condition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of developmental experience vs. condition to life history, trait variation and individual differences

DiRienzo

Montiglio

2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Workers can still use drone comb to store honey, so there is some flexibility in how drone comb is used (Smith et al. ), but the comb itself will not be modified by subsequent generations of workers. Therefore, while at the individual level, physiological changes in response to queen loss are reversible and short‐term, at the colony‐level, architectural changes in response to queen loss are irreversible and long term.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Queenless honey bees build infrastructure for direct reproduction until their new queen proves her worth

Smith

2018

Evolution

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The terminal investment hypothesis predicts that individuals will alter their reproductive investments based on reproductive prospects. This hypothesis, however, has never been tested at the colony-level, where reproductive prospects for thousands of individuals can change instantly with the death of a single individual: the queen. A honey bee queen's death also changes the reproductive mechanism; if the queen is not replaced, then workers reproduce directly, by producing males in reproductive comb-drone comb-before the colony dies. To test how workers respond to reproductive uncertainty, I made colonies queenless and measured comb building throughout the stages of rearing a replacement queen. Queenless workers built only drone comb throughout queen rearing, even when the colony possessed a virgin or mated queen. Only when the new queen started laying fertilized eggs did workers stop building drone comb. Despite queenless colonies being more likely to eventually rear a replacement queen (88%), than to fail (12%), workers still built drone comb for direct reproduction, even when the colony was provided with ample drone comb. Therefore, workers "pessimistically" invest in drone comb to prepare for direct reproduction, even while rearing a replacement queen to prevent that outcome. When faced with reproductive uncertainty, honey bees may "hope" for the best, but they prepare for the worst.

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“…Honey bees use the cells of comb for food storage or reproductive purposes and must allocate sufficient resources to both for the colony to survive (Smith et al, 2015). Honey bees build both drone brood and worker brood cells; these are used to store honey when not in use for reproduction.…”

Section: Beeswaxmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Honey bees build both drone brood and worker brood cells; these are used to store honey when not in use for reproduction. Because a drone's chance of reproductive success varies seasonally, honey bees will seasonally manipulate beeswax created for the dual purposes of honey storage and drone rearing (Smith et al, 2015). Smith et al (2015) found that to maximize a colony's fitness, honeybees used comb to raise drones in the spring and early summer when their chances of mating are highest and for honey storage in the late summer and fall when a drone's chance of mating is lowest.…”

Section: Beeswaxmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because a drone's chance of reproductive success varies seasonally, honey bees will seasonally manipulate beeswax created for the dual purposes of honey storage and drone rearing (Smith et al, 2015). Smith et al (2015) found that to maximize a colony's fitness, honeybees used comb to raise drones in the spring and early summer when their chances of mating are highest and for honey storage in the late summer and fall when a drone's chance of mating is lowest. Rearing more drones during spring and early summer boosts reproduction because virgin queens are produced more frequently during swarming season, which in temperate regions is spring and early summer (Smith et al, 2015).…”

Section: Beeswaxmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond Pollination: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) as Zootherapy Keystone Species

Easton‐Calabria¹,

Demary

Oner³

2019

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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The keystone species concept is a useful ecological concept to explain how some species exert a strong force on their community structure; this paper strives to expand the definition to include species that are used in zootherapy, i.e., the use of animals for medicinal purposes. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) can be considered a zootherapy keystone species that exerts a strong impact on other trophic levels through their products that relate to disease resistance. Honey bee products (i.e., honey, propolis, venom, beeswax, bee bread, and royal jelly) confer pathogen/pest resistance. Each of these products have been shown to exhibit antipathogenic properties and to act as a colony-level defense mechanism against disease. The phenomenon of a collective immune defense in social insects, termed social immunity, has evolved for defense against pathogens which spread easily in highly dense eusocial systems, such as that of honey bees. In apitherapy, a type of zootherapy, humans can use honey bee products to improve their health via pathogen resistance. The implication of these phenomena is that honey bees, through their products, can manipulate the microbial community structure both within the hive and outside the hive when these products are used in apitherapy. Because of their importance to human health, zootherapy keystone species should be a top priority in terms of conservation.

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Adaptive tuning of an extended phenotype: honeybees seasonally shift their honey storage to optimize male production

Cited by 24 publications

References 25 publications

The contribution of developmental experience vs. condition to life history, trait variation and individual differences

The contribution of developmental experience vs. condition to life history, trait variation and individual differences

Queenless honey bees build infrastructure for direct reproduction until their new queen proves her worth

Beyond Pollination: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) as Zootherapy Keystone Species

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