The Life Histories of the "Uruçu Amarela" Males (Melipona flavolineata, Apidae, Meliponini)

Abstract

Here we describe the life histories of adult males of the the Amazonian stingless bee Melipona flavolineata Friese, commonly known as “uruçu amarela”. Males reach sexual maturity inside nests, presenting seminal vesicles full of sperm cells and becoming able to fl y at a mean age of 10 and 15 days, respectively. They aggregate twice in their lives, once before leaving the nest, and another at external congregation sites, by using their capacity to reach congregation sites dependent on morphological attributes, such as large eyes and elongated thorax. Furthermore, we describe three atypical phenomena for Meliponini males: M. fl avolineata males have dimorphic color pattern; they lose their genital capsules, even when they fail to copulate; and penisless (sterile) males can stay alive for up to two days. The life history strategies of Meliponini males have only just started to be told and provide many interesting questions for future studies.

Queens remate despite traumatic mating in stingless bees

“…This suggests that harm to females may simply result from a strong physical anchorage of male genital structures to ensure copulation. In stingless bees, dense mating swarms are common ( Imperatriz-Fonseca et al 1998 ; Van Veen and Sommeijer 2000 ; Sommeijer et al 2003 ; Koffler et al 2016 ; Veiga et al 2018 ), where sex ratio is highly skewed to males, in particular in the non- Melipona species ( Boomsma et al 2005 ; Koffler et al 2016 ), thus implying that rival males could dislodge the mating pair. In this scenario of intense male–male competition, both male and female may benefit from piercing structures, thus traumatic mating may also have an adaptive value, such as increased paternity or fecundity stimulation ( Lange et al 2013 ).…”

“…We chose M. fasciculata as our reference species for illustrations and mechanism descriptions, because we had a complete set of specimens: unmated females (i.e., virgin queens), newly mated non-physogastric queens (i.e., recently mated, but not showing abdominal extension), mated physogastric queens (i.e., enlarged abdomen due to ovary development), newly emerged males, and sterile males (i.e., males in reproductive aggregations that have lost their genital capsules during previous mating attempts, Veiga et al 2018 ). Even though behavioral differences among species are expected ( Michener 2007 ; Grüter 2020 ), we believe our general descriptions of functional morphology may be extended to the other genera studied here, and others within the Meliponini tribe.…”

“…Although it is suggested that this mechanical plug may prevent queen remating ( Kerr et al 1962 ; Eberhard 1985 ; Alcock 1994 ), multiple matings have been detected in the stingless bee M. seminigra , as suggested by molecular evidences of multiple patrilines among brood in this species ( Francini 2013 ). Indeed, mating plugs seem to fail sometimes, as observed under experimental conditions: males may lose precedence for rivals, with more than 1 male plugging a queen simultaneously in the same mating event ( Smith 2020 ), or males may simply lose their genital capsules without successfully attaching it to a queen ( Veiga et al 2017 , 2018 ). Taken together, these reports suggest that mating plugs in stingless bees may be (1) sources of copulatory lesions in females due to the barbed structures in male genital capsules, (2) key to stimulate female fecundity, and that (3) plugs may be linked to single mating in the Meliponini ( Strassmann 2001 ; Vollet-Neto et al 2018 ; Grüter 2020 )—a general tendency expected for most social Hymenoptera ( Boomsma et al 2009 )—by preventing queen remating ( Alcock 1994 ).…”

Primeiro registro sobre aspectos biológicos e comportamentais de rainhas virgens de Melipona (Michmelia) eburnea Friese 1900 (Meliponini: Apidae: Hymenoptera)

“…Melipona, especialmente sobre as rainhas fecundadas, operárias e machos (Ribbands, 1952;Russo, 1976;Van Veen, et al, 1997;Wille, 1983;Sommeijer, 1984;Balestiere, 2001;Veiga et al 2018), mas alguns poucos têm sido realizados com registros das rainhas virgens de várias espécies (Imperatriz-Fonseca & Zucchi, 1995;Van Veen, et al, 1997;Balestiere, 2001;Van Veen, et al, 2004;Kärcher et al 2013;Veiga et al 2018;Grüter, 2020).…”

Estudo pioneiro sobre a biologia e etologia de machos de duas espécies de Melipona Illiger 1806 (Meliponini: Apidae: Hymenoptera)

“…Pesquisas observacionais e experimentais têm sido realizadas para compreender o comportamento das rainhas fecundadas, alguns sobre as princesas e operárias de várias espécies de Melipona, mas são poucas as realizadas com os machos em especial na região amazônica (Wille, 1983;Van Veen et al, 1997;Koedam et al, 1999;Balestieri, 2001;Bustamante, 2006;Veiga et al, 2018;Quezada-Euan, 2018;Imperatriz-Fonseca & Alves, 2020;Grüter, 2020;Bustamante et al, 2022). Os estudos com machos de Meliponini tem revelado que, além do processo de sair em revoada para a fertilização das princesas, forragear em flores, coletar pólen, resina e própolis, dentro das colmeias ou colônias, estes produzem cera, trabalham com cerume, desidratam néctar, incubam células de cria, ajudam na defesa do ninho, seguem pistas de odor, entre outras [Drory, 1876;Kerr & Nogueira-Neto (como citado em Nogueira-Neto, 1951); Cortopassi-Laurino, 1978, 1979Roubik, 1983;Cappas e Souza, 1995;Van Veen et al, 1997;Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1973;Imperatriz-Fonseca & Oliveira 1976;Balestieri, 2001;Velthuis et al, 2005;Boongird & Michener, 2010;Veiga et al, 2018;Grüter, 2020].…”