Interspecific chemical communication in raids of the robber bee Lestrimelitta limao

Zuben, Lucas Garcia Von; Schorkopf, Dirk Louis P.; Elias, Leonardo Abdala; Vaz, A. L. L.; Favaris, Arodí Prado; Clososki, Giuliano C.; Bento, José Maurício Simões; Nunes, Túlio M.

doi:10.1007/s00040-016-0474-2

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…2014; von Zuben et al 2016; Grüter et al 2017b). In the context of a non-nestmate or heterospecific scout discovering the nest entrance, the goals of a colony should be as follows.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Colony-level non-associative plasticity of alarm responses in the stingless honey bee, Tetragonisca angustula

Jernigan

Birgiolas

McHugh

et al. 2018

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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In ants, bees, and other social Hymenoptera alarm pheromones are widely employed to coordinate colony nest defense. In that context, alarm pheromones elicit innate species-specific defensive behaviors. Therefore, in terms of classical conditioning, an alarm pheromone could act as an unconditioned stimulus (US). Here we test this hypothesis by establishing whether repeated exposure to alarm pheromone in different testing contexts modifies the alarm response. We evaluate colony level alarm responses in the stingless bee, Tetragonisca angustula, which has a morphologically distinct guard caste. First, we describe the overall topology of defense behaviors in the presence of an alarm pheromone. Second, we show that repeated, regular exposure to synthetic alarm pheromone reduces different components of the alarm response, and memory of that exposure decays over time. This observed decrease followed by recovery occurs over different time frames and is consistent with behavioral habituation. We further tested whether the alarm pheromone can act as a US to classically condition guards to modify their defense behaviors in the presence of a novel (conditioned) stimulus (CS). We found no consistent changes in the response to the CS. Our study demonstrates the possibility that colony-level alarm responses can be adaptively modified by experience in response to changing environmental threats. Further studies are now needed to reveal the extent of these habituation-like responses in regard to other pheromones, the potential mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon, and the range of adaptive contexts in which they function at the colony level.

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“…2014; von Zuben et al 2016; Grüter et al 2017b). In the context of a non-nestmate or heterospecific scout discovering the nest entrance, the goals of a colony should be as follows.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the main threats to any stingless honey bee colony comes from other meliponine bee species that raid colonies (Sakagami et al 1993; Cunningham et al. 2014; von Zuben et al 2016; Grüter et al 2017b). In the context of a non-nestmate or heterospecific scout discovering the nest entrance, the goals of a colony should be as follows.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colony-level non-associative plasticity of alarm responses in the stingless honey bee, Tetragonisca angustula

Jernigan

Birgiolas

McHugh

et al. 2018

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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show abstract

“…Social parasites frequently use appeasement, repellent and propaganda substances, which pacify the host, cause panic and confusion in host workers, or even lead to fights among host nest-mates (ants: [32]; wasps: [122]; bees: [79,123]). These substances are often produced in the Dufour's gland, and its usage in both ant, bee and wasp social parasites suggest convergent evolution of host manipulation (e.g.…”

Section: (C) Unresponsiveness To Parasite Manipulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[34,[124][125][126][127][128][129]). In Lestrimelitta robber bees, the repellent chemicals used during raids appear to originate from the labial and the mandibular glands [123].…”

Section: (C) Unresponsiveness To Parasite Manipulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites

Grüter

Jongepier²,

Foitzik

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Insect societies face many social parasites that exploit their altruistic behaviours or their resources. Due to the fitness costs these social parasites incur, hosts have evolved various behavioural, chemical, architectural and morphological defence traits. Similar to bacteria infecting multicellular hosts, social parasites have to successfully go through several steps to exploit their hosts. Here, we review how social insects try to interrupt this sequence of events. They can avoid parasite contact by choosing to nest in parasite-free locales or evade attacks by adapting their colony structure. Once social parasites attack, hosts attempt to detect them, which can be facilitated by adjustments in colony odour. If social parasites enter the nest, hosts can either aggressively defend their colony or take their young and flee. Nest structures are often shaped to prevent social parasite invasion or to safeguard host resources. Finally, if social parasites successfully establish themselves in host nests, hosts can rebel by killing the parasite brood or by reproducing in the parasites' presence. Hosts of social parasites can therefore develop multiple traits, leading to the evolution of complex defence portfolios of co-dependent traits. Social parasites can respond to these multi-level defences with counter-adaptations, potentially leading to geographical mosaics of coevolution.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.

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“…A note should be made on the high abundance of citral in both species of Lestimelitta in this study. Propaganda substances produced in the mandibular and labial glands of the cleptobiont are known to have different effects on hosts, from disruption to retreat, and thus seems to play a key role in the process of host raiding 2 , 62 . Similarly, some host species seem to be raided by the use of sheer force 2 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sympatric cleptobiotic stingless bees have species-specific cuticular profiles that resemble their hosts

Vázquez

Muñóz

Medina

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Stingless bees are the largest group of eusocial pollinators with diverse natural histories, including obligate cleptobionts (genus Lestrimelitta) that completely abandoned flower visitation to rely on other stingless bees for food and nest materials. Species of Lestrimeliita are thought to specialize upon different host species, and deception through chemical similarity has been proposed as a mechanism to explain this phenomenon. In the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Scaptotrigona pectoralis is a species chemically distinct from, and not preferred as a host by, locally widespread Lestrimeliita niitkib; witnessing attacks on S. pectoralis colonies offered the opportunity to test the sensory deception hypothesis to cletoparasitism. Analysis of cuticular profiles revealed that the Lestrimelitta attacking S. pectoralis differed significantly in odour bouquet to L. niitkib and, in contrast, it resembled that of S. pectoralis. Further analyses, including morphometrics, mtDNA barcoding, and the examination of taxonomic features, confirmed the existence of two sympatric Lestrimelitta species. The results give support to the hypothesis of chemical deception as a cleptobiotic strategy in Lestrimelitta sp. This is the first evidence that sympatric cleptobionts of the same genus select hosts in accordance with species-specific cuticular profiles, with possible consequences for ecological adaptation and the evolution of these remarkable organisms and the community of stingless bee hosts.

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Interspecific chemical communication in raids of the robber bee Lestrimelitta limao

Cited by 12 publications

References 24 publications

Colony-level non-associative plasticity of alarm responses in the stingless honey bee, Tetragonisca angustula

Colony-level non-associative plasticity of alarm responses in the stingless honey bee, Tetragonisca angustula

Insect societies fight back: the evolution of defensive traits against social parasites

Sympatric cleptobiotic stingless bees have species-specific cuticular profiles that resemble their hosts

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