The road to sociality: brood regulation of worker reproduction in the simple eusocial bee Bombus impatiens

Starkey, Jesse; Brown, A. K.; Amsalem, Etya

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.06.004

Cited by 34 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…In all experiments, workers were introduced to 177 unrelated brood. In a previous study we showed that worker reproduction is similarly affected by 178 related or unrelated brood(Starkey et al, 2019a).…”

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confidence: 92%

“…Eggs that were laid in these cages remained untouched and were counted by 128 the end of the experiment; (3) 8 pairs of workers with 10-20 young larvae (as described earlier) 129 were replaced five days after the onset of the experiment with similar amount of new young 130 larvae (YB). In a previous study we found that only young larvae reduce worker egg laying while 131 pupae induce the opposite effect(Starkey et al, 2019a). Therefore, this procedure ensured 132 constant presence of young larvae throughout the experiment.…”

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confidence: 93%

“…All the brood was collected 174 from queen-right colonies with no signs of worker reproduction. All the brood was likely to be of 175 female workers, though we have previously shown that worker egg laying is similarly decreased 176 regardless of the brood sex(Starkey et al, 2019a). In all experiments, workers were introduced to 177 unrelated brood.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Recent findings suggest that also the brood plays a role in the inhibition of worker reproduction in 82 B. impatiens (Starkey et al, 2019a;Starkey et al, 2019b). Young, but not old larvae, reduced egg 83 laying but not ovary activation in workers in a quantity-dependent manner, with nearly complete 84 suppression of egg laying in groups containing two workers and 10 young larvae (…”

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confidence: 99%

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A small family business: synergistic and additive effects of the queen and the brood on worker reproduction in a primitively eusocial bee

Orlova

Starkey

Amsalem

2019

Preprint

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8The mechanisms that maintain reproductive division of labor in social insects are still 9 incompletely understood. Most studies focus on the relationship between adults, overlooking 10 another important stakeholder in the gamethe juvenile offspring. Recent studies from various 11 social species show that not only the queen, but also the brood regulates reproductive division of 12 labor between females, but how the two coordinate to maintain reproductive monopoly remained 13 unexplored.14 Our study aims at disentangling the roles of the brood and the queen in regulating worker 15 reproduction in primitively eusocial bees. We examined the effects induced by the brood and 16 queen, separately and together, on the behavioral, physiological and brain gene expression of 17 Bombus impatiens workers. We found that young larvae induce a releaser effect in workers, 18 decreasing egg laying and aggressive behaviors, while the queen induces both releaser and primer 19 effects, modifying worker aggressive and egg laying behavior and reproductive physiology. The 20 expression of reproduction-and aggression-related genes was altered in the presence of both 21 queen and brood, but the effect was stronger or the same in the presence of the queen. 22We identified two types of interactions between the queen and the brood in regulating worker 23 reproduction: (1) synergistic interactions regulating worker physiology, where the combined 24 effect of the queen and the brood was greater than each of them separately; (2) additive 25 interactions regulating worker behavior, where the combined effects of the queen and the brood 26 are the gross sum of their separated effects. In these interactions the brood acted in a manner 27 similar to the queen but to a much smaller extent and improved the quality of the effect induced 28 by the queen. Our results suggest that the queen and the brood of primitively eusocial bees 29 coordinate synergistically, additively, and sometimes even redundantly to regulate worker 30 behavior and reproduction, and the interaction between them exists in multiple regulatory levels. 31 32

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confidence: 99%

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A small family business: synergistic and additive effects of the queen and the brood on worker reproduction in a primitively eusocial bee

Orlova

Starkey

Amsalem

2019

Preprint

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“…Beside this, it was shown that behavioral interactions of the queens, e.g., aggressive behavior towards workers, is necessary to induce sterility in workers in some primitively eusocial insect species, whereas chemical signals are not sufficient to affect worker's reproductive physiology [52][53][54][55][56][57]. Regarding our recent study on L. malachurum, we could clearly demonstrate that macrocyclic lactones as a chemical signal of the queen are solely sufficient to induce sterility in workers [20].…”

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confidence: 60%

Queen Recognition Signals in Two Primitively Eusocial Halictid Bees: Evolutionary Conservation and Caste-Specific Perception

Steitz

Brandt

Biefel

et al. 2019

Insects

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Queen signals are known to regulate reproductive harmony within eusocial colonies by influencing worker behavior and ovarian physiology. However, decades of research have resulted in the identification of just a few queen signals, and studies of their mode of action are rare. Our aim was to identify queen recognition signals in the halictid bee Lasioglossum pauxillum and to analyze caste differences in the olfactory perception of queen signals in L. pauxillum and the closely related species L. malachurum. We performed chemical analyses and bioassays to test for caste differences in chemical profiles and worker behavior influenced by queen-specific compounds in L. pauxillum. Our results indicated that caste differences in the chemical profiles were mainly attributable to higher amounts of macrocyclic lactones in queens. Bioassays demonstrated a higher frequency of subordinate behavior in workers elicited by queen-specific amounts of macrocyclic lactones. Thus, macrocyclic lactones function as queen recognition signals in L. pauxillum, as in L. malachurum. Using electrophysiological analyses, we have demonstrated that queens of both tested species lack antennal reactions to certain macrocyclic lactones. Therefore, we assume that this is a mechanism to prevent reproductive self-inhibition in queens. Our results should stimulate debate on the conservation and mode of action of queen signals.

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Molecular mechanisms of task allocation in workers of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta

Starkey,

Tamborindeguy

2023

Insect. Soc.

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The road to sociality: brood regulation of worker reproduction in the simple eusocial bee Bombus impatiens

Cited by 34 publications

References 62 publications

A small family business: synergistic and additive effects of the queen and the brood on worker reproduction in a primitively eusocial bee

A small family business: synergistic and additive effects of the queen and the brood on worker reproduction in a primitively eusocial bee

Queen Recognition Signals in Two Primitively Eusocial Halictid Bees: Evolutionary Conservation and Caste-Specific Perception

Molecular mechanisms of task allocation in workers of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta

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