Cooperative wasp-killing by mixed-species colonies of honeybees, Apis cerana and Apis mellifera

Tan, Ken; Yang, Mingxian; Wang, Zheng-Wei; Li, Hua; Zhang, Zuyun; Radloff, Sarah E.; Hepburn, Randall

doi:10.1007/s13592-011-0098-5

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Although A. cerana will attack and heat-ball V. velutina [26], [37], no published studies report on how it responds to V. tropica . We used insect nets to capture V. velutina and V. tropica workers in the apiary when they were hunting honey bees, anesthetised them with CO 2 , weighed each hornet, and then tethered each live hornet by wrapping the end of a wire (2.2 mm diameter and 50 cm long) around its waist (connection between thorax and abdomen) for presentation to bee colonies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Asian honey bee species, A. cerana , evolved with these Vespa predators and therefore has special defenses: a shimmering behavior that repels hornets [26], [37] and, as a final defense, surrounding the well-armored hornet with a ball of bees that kill with their intense body heat [38]. Apis cerana is also an important native pollinator [39], [40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fearful Foragers: Honey Bees Tune Colony and Individual Foraging to Multi-Predator Presence and Food Quality

Tan

Chen

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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Fear can have strong ecosystem effects by giving predators a role disproportionate to their actual kill rates. In bees, fear is shown through foragers avoiding dangerous food sites, thereby reducing the fitness of pollinated plants. However, it remains unclear how fear affects pollinators in a complex natural scenario involving multiple predator species and different patch qualities. We studied hornets, Vespa velutina (smaller) and V. tropica (bigger) preying upon the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana in China. Hornets hunted bees on flowers and were attacked by bee colonies. Bees treated the bigger hornet species (which is 4 fold more massive) as more dangerous. It received 4.5 fold more attackers than the smaller hornet species. We tested bee responses to a three-feeder array with different hornet species and varying resource qualities. When all feeders offered 30% sucrose solution (w/w), colony foraging allocation, individual visits, and individual patch residence times were reduced according to the degree of danger. Predator presence reduced foraging visits by 55–79% and residence times by 17–33%. When feeders offered different reward levels (15%, 30%, or 45% sucrose), colony and individual foraging favored higher sugar concentrations. However, when balancing food quality against multiple threats (sweeter food corresponding to higher danger), colonies exhibited greater fear than individuals. Colonies decreased foraging at low and high danger patches. Individuals exhibited less fear and only decreased visits to the high danger patch. Contrasting individual with emergent colony-level effects of fear can thus illuminate how predators shape pollination by social bees.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fearful Foragers: Honey Bees Tune Colony and Individual Foraging to Multi-Predator Presence and Food Quality

Tan

Chen

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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“…neckteeth in Daphnia sp. [6]), warning signals (including behaviours, sounds and colours, i.e., aposematism) or alternatively crypsis [7]–[11], and/or direct behavioural response (fleeing [12], feigning death [13], [14], attacking [15]–[18]). Conversely, predators are selected for their efficacy to acquire prey, i.e., in bypassing their defence [19]–[24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In its native area, V. velutina hunts the native and the introduced honeybee species, Apis cerana and A. mellifera respectively. Apis cerana which is supposed to have co-evolved with V. velutina is able to exhibit efficient antipredator behaviours against this hornet species whereas A. mellifera is less defensive thus suffering a higher predation pressure [10], [11], [15]–[18]. The introduction of this hornet species into France generates the reversed situation, A. mellifera being the native prey and V. velutina the alien predator.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, studies involving V. velutina have been mainly focused on the defensive behaviours of A. mellifera and A. cerana such as the bee-carpet occurrence, the “balling” behaviour and/or the abdomen shaking movement [10], [11], [15]–[18], [56]. Neither the behaviour of the invasive population of V. velutina nor the temporal patterns of the prey-predator interaction has been investigated to date.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Native Prey and Invasive Predator Patterns of Foraging Activity: The Case of the Yellow-Legged Hornet Predation at European Honeybee Hives

et al. 2013

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Contrary to native predators, which have co-evolved with their prey, alien predators often benefit from native prey naïveté. Vespa velutina, a honeybee predator originating from Eastern China, was introduced into France just before 2004. The present study, based on video recordings of two beehives at an early stage of the invasion process, intends to analyse the alien hornet hunting behaviour on the native prey, Apis mellifera, and to understand the interaction between the activity of the predator and the prey during the day and the season. Chasing hornets spent most of their time hovering facing the hive, to catch flying honeybees returning to the hive. The predation pressure increased during the season confirming previous study based on predator trapping. The number of honeybee captures showed a maximum peak for an intermediate number of V. velutina, unrelated to honeybee activity, suggesting the occurrence of competition between hornets. The number of honeybees caught increased during midday hours while the number of hornets did not vary, suggesting an increase in their efficacy. These results suggest that the impact of V. velutina on honeybees is limited by its own biology and behaviour and did not match the pattern of activity of its prey. Also, it could have been advantageous during the invasion, limiting resource depletion and thus favouring colonisation. This lack of synchronization may also be beneficial for honeybee colonies by giving them an opportunity to increase their activity when the hornets are less effective.

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Honey Bees

Vidal-Naquet¹,

Cripps²

2021

Invertebrate Medicine

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Cooperative wasp-killing by mixed-species colonies of honeybees, Apis cerana and Apis mellifera

Cited by 17 publications

References 23 publications

Fearful Foragers: Honey Bees Tune Colony and Individual Foraging to Multi-Predator Presence and Food Quality

Fearful Foragers: Honey Bees Tune Colony and Individual Foraging to Multi-Predator Presence and Food Quality

Native Prey and Invasive Predator Patterns of Foraging Activity: The Case of the Yellow-Legged Hornet Predation at European Honeybee Hives

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