False queens: A consequence of mandibular gland signals in worker honeybees

Crewe, Robin M.; Velthuis, H. H. W.

doi:10.1007/bf00405650

Cited by 159 publications

(138 citation statements)

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“…Ontogenetic changes in a queen's glandular secretions lead to modulation in both primer and releaser effects on the receiver that can enable the queen to assert her dominance over workers within a colony (Crewe and Velthius 1980;Velthuis 1985). The queen asserts her dominance in the colony through effective regulatory mechanisms in place to maintain the reproductive division of labor (Mohammedi et al 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, Cape honey bee workers have short latency periods before becoming reproductive, and produce queen-like pheromones rapidly after queen loss (Crewe and Velthius 1980;Velthuis et al 1990). The successful reproduction of A. m. capensis laying workers in the presence of a queen is possible if they escape the reproductive suppression of the resident queen and brood, and causes reproductive competition that leads to reproductive anarchy (reviewed in Neumann and Hepburn 2002;Neumann and Moritz 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In queenless situations, A. m. capensis clones take advantage of the absence of a queen in a colony. This results in strong competition for production of queen-like pheromone bouquets among workers, with some workers becoming reproductive and laying eggs (Crewe and Velthius 1980;Moritz et al 2000;Velthuis et al 1990). The success of social parasitism by A. m. capensis laying workers is enhanced by their ability to mimic the queen's mandibular and Dufour's gland secretions (Moritz et al 2000;Sole et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of age and Reproductive Status on Tergal Gland Secretions in Queenless Honey bee Workers, Apis mellifera scutellata and A. m. capensis

et al. 2015

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Secretions from tergal glands are part of a queen's pheromonal control of worker reproduction in honey bees. However, in queenless honey bee colonies, workers compete to gain pheromonal, and hence reproductive dominance, over nestmates with ontogenetic changes in their glandular secretions that affect the behavioral or physiological responses of other individuals. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, we investigated for the first time the age-dependent changes in tergal gland secretions of queenless workers of the clonal lineage of Apis mellifera capensis and workers of A. m. scutellata. The reproductive status of honey bee workers was determined by recording the presence of spermathecae and the level of ovarian activation. The tergal gland chemicals identified in both A. m. scutellata workers and A. m. capensis clone workers were oleic acid, n-tricosene , npentacosene, and n-heptacosene, with three additional compounds, palmitic acid, nheneicosene, and n-nonacosene, in A. m. capensis clones. We report ethyl esters as new compounds from honey bee worker tergal gland profiles; these compounds increased in amount with age. All A. m. capensis clone workers dissected had spermathecae and showed ovarian activation from day 4, while ovarian activation only started on day 7 for A. m. scutellata workers that had no spermathecae. Tergal gland secretions were present in higher quantities in bees with activated, rather than inactive ovaries. This suggests that tergal gland secretions from reproductive workers could act as releaser and primer pheromones in synergy with other glandular compounds to achieve pheromonal and reproductive dominance.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of age and Reproductive Status on Tergal Gland Secretions in Queenless Honey bee Workers, Apis mellifera scutellata and A. m. capensis

et al. 2015

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“…However, workers are able to shift the synthesis towards the queen pathway and queens can also produce worker substances (Yusuf et al 2015). Workers mostly change the pheromonal bouquet under queen-less conditions, in particular workers of A. m. capensis quickly develop into "pseudoqueens" which lay eggs and produce queen-like gland secretion dominated by the queen substance (9-ODA) in their mandibular glands (Crewe and Velthuis 1980;Moritz et al 2000;Simon et al 2001). Pseudoqueen-produced pheromones play an important role in establishing reproductive dominance hierarchies among queen-less workers, because 9-ODA that is produced in regular colonies by a functional queen has been shown to inhibit ovary activation and suppress the production of a queen-like pheromone signal in other workers (Crewe 1988;Moritz et al 2000Moritz et al , 2004Moritz et al , 2008Dietemann et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive traits and mandibular gland pheromone of anarchistic honey bee workers Apis mellifera occurring in China

et al. 2015

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-In honey bee colonies, workers, in particular of "anarchistic" lineages, can activate their ovaries and lay eggs, even in the presence of the queen. We identified three queenright colonies showing typical signs of worker reproduction. To characterize this new lineage, we extracted the mandibular gland and analyzed it using gas chromatography. The total amounts of the five main components of the mandibular gland, namely methyl phydroxyben-zoate (HOB), 9-oxo-2(E)-decenoic acid (9-ODA), (S)-9-hydroxy-(E)-2-decenoic acid (9-HDA), 10-HDA, and 10-hydroxyde-canoic acid (10-HDAA) were significantly higher in the mandibular gland profiles of workers with activated ovaries (AWs, 8.88±1.71 μg) compared to workers with inactivated ovaries (IAWs, 4.00± 2.09 μg). Furthermore, the chemical profiles of IAWs were dominated by the "worker substances" 10-HDA (34.64± 8.19 %) and its precursor 10-HDAA (22.88±4.95 %), while the chemical profiles in AWs were dominated by the precursor of the queen substance 9-HDA (40.04±7.55 %). The ratios of two precursor substances 10-HDAA/9-HDA of IAWs were more worker like (>1.0) whereas AWs were more queen like (≤1.0). These results suggest that the mandibular pheromones of anarchistic workers resemble a more queen-like reproductive active profile and that these workers may represent a reversion to a more basal reproductive phenotype.Apis mellifera / anarchistic colony / ovary activation / egg production / worker policing / worker mandibular gland pheromone

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“…In queenless colonies, some laying workers develop a pheromonal bouquet, similar to that of queens (Crewe and Velthuis 1980), which stimulates physiological responses in other workers similar to those evoked by queens (Velthuis et al 1990). In the Cape honeybee, A. m.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of Queenright and Queenless Workers of Apis Cerana to 9-keto-2(E)-decenoic Acid, a Pheromonal Constituent of the Mandibular Gland

Tan

Wang

et al. 2010

J Chem Ecol

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In dequeened honeybee colonies ovarian activation occurs in some workers, and the pheromonal bouquets of these laying workers become more queen-like. In the Asiatic honeybee, Apis cerana, we compared the amounts of 9-keto-2(E)-decenoic acid (9-ODA), a mandibular gland pheromone component, between non-laying workers from queenright colonies and laying workers from queenless colonies and, further, applied synthetic 9-ODA to workers to determine whether workers discriminate workers with activated ovaries based on the level of this compound. Levels of 9-ODA were higher in laying workers from dequeened colonies than in non-laying workers from queenright colonies. In both queenright and queenless colonies, more workers treated with 9-ODA were attacked by other workers than were control-treated workers. These results suggest that detection of pseudoqueens in A. cerana is mediated by changes in 9-ODA.2

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False queens: A consequence of mandibular gland signals in worker honeybees

Cited by 159 publications

References 17 publications

Effects of age and Reproductive Status on Tergal Gland Secretions in Queenless Honey bee Workers, Apis mellifera scutellata and A. m. capensis

Effects of age and Reproductive Status on Tergal Gland Secretions in Queenless Honey bee Workers, Apis mellifera scutellata and A. m. capensis

Reproductive traits and mandibular gland pheromone of anarchistic honey bee workers Apis mellifera occurring in China

Responses of Queenright and Queenless Workers of Apis Cerana to 9-keto-2(E)-decenoic Acid, a Pheromonal Constituent of the Mandibular Gland

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