Dufour’s gland pheromone as a reliable fertility signal among honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers

Dor, Roi; Katzav-Gozansky, Tamar; Hefetz, Abraham

doi:10.1007/s00265-005-0923-9

Cited by 46 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…For the "worker control" model to operate in honeybees, pheromones other than QMP must be responsible for the production of reliable signals of reproductive capacity. The pheromones produced by the queen's Dufour's gland have been shown to closely correlate with fecundity (Katzav-Gozansky et al 1997Dor et al 2005); however, also here no differences were found in ester levels between virgin and egg-laying queens (Martin and Jones 2004). Since pheromones produced by the brood (Pettis et al 1997) have been shown to interfere with worker ovary activation and workers are able to detect a lack of brood (as shown for Polistes wasps, Liebig et al 2005), brood pheromones are currently the most likely candidates to serve as a reliable signal of queen fertility for the workers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of the queen mandibular gland pheromone in honeybees (Apis mellifera): honest signal or suppressive agent?

Strauss

Scharpenberg

Crewe

et al. 2008

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Queen pheromones interfere with worker reproduction in social insects. However, there is still an unresolved question as to whether this pheromone acts as an "honest" signal for workers, giving a reliable indication of the queen's reproductive value, or as a suppressive agent, inhibiting worker reproduction independent of the queen's reproductive capacity. In honeybees (Apis mellifera), the queen's mandibular gland secretion, a mix of fatty acids and some aromatic compounds, is crucial for regulating the reproductive division of labor in the colony inhibiting ovary development in workers. We quantified the mandibular gland secretions of virgin, drone-laying, and naturally mated queens using gas chromatography to test whether the queens' mating, ovary activation, or the reproductive value for workers correlated with the composition of the secretion. Although the absolute amounts of the "queen substance" 9-oxo-2(E)-decenoic acid (9-ODA) were similar among the three groups, the proportions of 9-ODA decreased with increasing reproductive quality. Furthermore, the ratios of queen to worker compounds were similar in all three treatment groups, irrespective of the reproductive capacity. A multivariate analysis including all six compounds could not separate drone-laying queens from naturally mated ones, both with active ovaries but only the latter ensuring colony survival. We suggest that the mandibular gland pheromones are unlikely to function as reliable indicators of queen reproductive value and rather operate as an agent to suppress worker reproduction. This does not exclude the possibility that other "honest" pheromone signals exist in the honeybee colony, but these would have to arise from other semiochemicals, which could be produced by both the queen and the brood.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of the queen mandibular gland pheromone in honeybees (Apis mellifera): honest signal or suppressive agent?

Strauss

Scharpenberg

Crewe

et al. 2008

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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show abstract

“…Furthermore, the stinger discharges alarm pheromones (primarily isoamyl acetate) after it has been embedded in the opponent. The worker bee is characterized by a stagespecific profile of C21-C33 cuticular hydrocarbons and pheromones, including eicosenol, ethyl oleate, and 10-hydroxy-decenoic acid that changes as a function of the social role of the animal (Chaline et al, 2005;Dor et al, 2005;Leoncini et al, 2004a,b).…”

Section: A Anatomy Of Individualsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Order, Disorder, Death: Lessons from a Superorganism

Amdam¹,

Seehuus²

2006

Advances in Cancer Research

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Animal models contribute to the understanding of molecular mechanism of cancer, revealing complex roles of altered cellular-signaling networks and deficient surveillance systems. Analogous pathologies are documented in an unconventional model organism that receives attention in research on systems theory, evolution, and aging. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony is an advanced integrative unit, a "superorganism" in which order is controlled via complex signaling cascades and surveillance schemes. A facultatively sterile caste, the workers, regulates patterns of growth, differentiation, homeostasis, and death. Workers differentiate into temporal phenotypes in response to dynamic social cues; chemosensory signals that can translate into dramatic physiological responses, including programmed cell death. Temporal worker forms function together, and effectively identify and terminate abnormal colony members ranging from embryos to adults. As long as this regulatory system is operational at a colony level, the unit survives and propagates. However, if the worker phenotypes that collectively govern order become too few or change into malignant forms that bypass control mechanisms to replicate aberrantly; order is replaced by disorder that ultimately leads to the destruction of the society. In this chapter we describe fundamental properties of honeybee social organization, and explore conditions that lead to states of disorder. Our hope is that this chapter will be an inspirational source for ongoing and future work in the field of cancer research.

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“…body size, ovary development) and social experience were potentially traits selected to avoid aggressive encounters (Wcislo, 1997;Rehan & Richards, 2010). In some species pheromones seem to play an important role controlling ovary development, making non-dominant females fail in reproduction and become loyal helpers (Dor et al 2005). In some primitively eusocial orchid bee species, egg-laying is performed by dominant females as well as by subordinate females increasing for instance the aggression ratio between nestmates (Augusto & Garófalo, 2009;.…”

Section: Research Article -Beesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple Aggressions Among Nestmates Lead to Weak Dominance Hampering Primitively Eusocial Behaviour in an Orchid Bee

Boff¹,

Saito²,

Santos³

2017

Sociobiology

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Reproductive conflict expressed as aggression is common in social Hymenoptera. In eusocial species, as in honeybees, several mechanisms alleviate the conflicts and reduce aggressive interactions. Unlike their sister group, the orchid bees do not exhibit eusociality. Instead, most of the species seem to have lost sociality and some species have retained vestigial social behaviour. In the current study we investigated the aggressive interactions of females of Euglossa annectans Dressler through five generations of phylopatry and reuse of the natal nest. Although network analysis indicates that central individuals, those with more interactions, were more commonly the aggressors and others were more commonly the recipients, multiple attacks and several potential dominant female within the nest indicated a labile sociality. This suggests that there is an unstable social hierarchy in the species. Euglossa annectans, despite having overlapping generations, during which several individuals share a nest, there is no division of labour into reproductive and interactions are often competitive. Aggressive behaviours conducted by multiple fertile females were often followed by egg, larvae or pupae replacement.

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Dufour’s gland pheromone as a reliable fertility signal among honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers

Cited by 46 publications

References 40 publications

The role of the queen mandibular gland pheromone in honeybees (Apis mellifera): honest signal or suppressive agent?

The role of the queen mandibular gland pheromone in honeybees (Apis mellifera): honest signal or suppressive agent?

Order, Disorder, Death: Lessons from a Superorganism

Multiple Aggressions Among Nestmates Lead to Weak Dominance Hampering Primitively Eusocial Behaviour in an Orchid Bee

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