Pre‐hibernation mating by a solitary bee,Ceratina flavipes(Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae)

Abstract

At 17 localities in Japan, 71-81% of overwintering adult females of the solitary bee Ceratina flavipes mated before hibernation. The occurrence of males with inseminated females in their natal nests suggested the possible occurrence of inbreeding. Therefore, we examined the seasonal trends of inbreeding coefficients, calculated by comparing the band patterns of microsatellite DNA between a female and her mating partners (indicated by sperm in her spermatheca). The mean coefficient of inbreeding was 0.80 on 25 August and 0.60 on 1 November versus 0.31 on 5 June and 0.38 on 28 June. These results demonstrate a tendency towards inbreeding before winter and towards outbreeding during dispersal after hibernation.

Social polymorphism in the Australian small carpenter bee, Ceratina (Neoceratina) australensis

“…Cofounding in natural populations of other Ceratina species is also very rare. Ceratina australensis overwinters in both newly founded and reused stems and the only other ceratinine reported to also disperse and (Kidokoro et al, 2003(Kidokoro et al, , 2006. In both these species, autumnal dispersal should therefore lower the potential for social nesting in spring, and C. flavipes only rarely (0.1% of nests collected) forms social colonies in the wild (Sakagami and Maeta, 1987).…”