Production and transmission of honey bee queen (Apis mellifera L.) mandibular gland pheromone

Naumann, Ken; Winston, Mark L.; Slessor, K. N.; Prestwich, Glenn D.; Webster, Francis X.

doi:10.1007/bf00165956

Cited by 123 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Food in the crop is circulated throughout the colony by trophallaxis (24). This is also true for honey bee QMP (25) and substances produced by the postpharyngeal gland in the head of Cataglyphis niger ants that mediate nestmate recognition (26). Both the bee and ant substances are also found on the cuticle, as was EO, suggesting a communication system that involves trophallaxis, grooming, and licking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Regulation of behavioral maturation by a primer pheromone produced by adult worker honey bees

Leoncini

Conte

Costagliola

et al. 2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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205

149

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Previous research showed that the presence of older workers causes a delayed onset of foraging in younger individuals in honey bee colonies, but a specific worker inhibitory factor had not yet been identified. Here, we report on the identification of a substance produced by adult forager honey bees, ethyl oleate, that acts as a chemical inhibitory factor to delay age at onset of foraging. Ethyl oleate is synthesized de novo and is present in highest concentrations in the bee's crop. These results suggest that worker behavioral maturation is modulated via trophallaxis, a form of food exchange that also serves as a prominent communication channel in insect societies. Our findings provide critical validation for a model of self-organization explaining how bees are able to respond to fragmentary information with actions that are appropriate to the state of the whole colony.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Regulation of behavioral maturation by a primer pheromone produced by adult worker honey bees

Leoncini

Conte

Costagliola

et al. 2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

205

149

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“…Nevertheless, our observations and the storing of nectar inside the mesh cages provide direct and indirect evidence (respectively) for trophallactic interactions with bees outside the cage. Trophallaxis serves not only for mutual feeding, but also for the distribution of contact pheromones, including the queen pheromone (Naumann et al, 1991;Leoncini et al, 2004). In addition, in the complementary experiment, nurses that were removed from the hive to a cage with a brood comb but with no queen were similarly active during the day and night and had attenuated molecular oscillations, whereas their same age full-sister bees that were placed in a similar cage with a broodless comb were more active during the day and had strong cycling in clock gene expression (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Dynamics and Social Regulation of Context-Dependent Plasticity in the Circadian Clockwork of the Honey Bee

Shemesh¹,

Eban-Rothschild²,

Cohen³

et al. 2010

J. Neurosci.

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The social environment influences the circadian clock of diverse animals, but little is known about the functional significance, the specifics of the social signals, or the dynamics of socially mediated changes in the clock. Honey bees switch between activities with and without circadian rhythms according to their social task. Forager bees have strong circadian rhythms, whereas "nurse" bees typically care for the brood around-the-clock with no circadian rhythms in behavior or clock gene expression. Here we show that nurse-age bees that were restricted to a broodless comb inside or outside the hive showed robust behavioral and molecular circadian rhythms. By contrast, young nurses tended brood with no circadian rhythms in behavior or clock gene expression, even under a light-dark illumination regime or when placed with brood-but no queen-in a small cage outside the hive. This behavior is context-dependent because nurses showed circadian rhythms in locomotor activity shortly after removal from the hive, and in clock gene expression after ϳ16 h. These findings suggest that direct interaction with the brood modulates the circadian system of honey bees. The dynamics of rhythm development best fit models positing that at least some pacemakers continue to oscillate and be entrained by the environment in nurses that are active around the clock. These cells set the phase to the clock network when the nurse is removed from the hive. These findings suggest that despite its robustness, the circadian system exhibits profound plasticity, enabling adjustment to rapid changes in the social environment.

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“…In larger colonies, however, this is no longer effective (Engels 1986;Hoover et al 2003;Dietemann et al 2003) and pheromonal signals are involved in the regulation of the reproductive hierarchies. These pheromones can be spread throughout the whole colony even if the queen's physical contact is limited to a small proportion of the individuals, either by workers (Naumann et al 1991;Seeley 1979) or by the brood (Endler et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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Production and transmission of honey bee queen (Apis mellifera L.) mandibular gland pheromone

Cited by 123 publications

References 34 publications

Regulation of behavioral maturation by a primer pheromone produced by adult worker honey bees

Regulation of behavioral maturation by a primer pheromone produced by adult worker honey bees

Molecular Dynamics and Social Regulation of Context-Dependent Plasticity in the Circadian Clockwork of the Honey Bee

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

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