Abstract
As a result of different brood cell provisioning strategies, nest-making insects may differ in the extent to which adults regularly provide extended parental care to their brood beyond nest defense. Mass-provisioning species cache the entire food supply needed for larval development prior to the oviposition and typically seal the brood cell. It is usually assumed that there is no regular contact between the adult(s) and brood. Here, we show that the bee, Megalopta genalis, expresses a form of cryptic brood care, which would not be observed during normal development. Following experimental injections of different provisioning materials into brood cells, foundresses reopened manipulated cells and the brood were aborted in some cases, implying that the foundresses assessed conditions within the cells. In aborted cells, foundresses sometimes laid a second egg after first removing dead larvae, previously stored pollen and contaminants. Our results show that hygienic brood care can be cryptic and hence may be more widespread than previously believed, lending support to the hypothesis that extended parental care is a preadaptation toward eusociality.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00040-015-0409-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Sociality has evolved in different clades of nest-making Hymenoptera, and their solitary ancestors likely differed in the extent to which adults provided extended parental care, apart from providing and protecting a nest. ‘‘Mass-provisioning’’ species cache all food necessary for larval development prior to the oviposition (Michener 1974) and are generally thought to not provide additional care for individual brood, apart from defending the nest (Lin and Michener 1972)
We show that the bee, Megalopta genalis, expresses a form of cryptic brood care, which would not be observed during normal development
Our results show that hygienic brood care can be cryptic and may be more widespread than previously believed, lending support to the hypothesis that extended parental care is a preadaptation toward eusociality
Summary
Sociality has evolved in different clades of nest-making Hymenoptera, and their solitary ancestors likely differed in the extent to which adults provided extended parental care, apart from providing and protecting a nest (see Wheeler 1922; Wilson 1971; Michener 1974; West-Eberhard 1975; Alexander et al 1991). ‘‘Mass-provisioning’’ species cache all food necessary for larval development prior to the oviposition (Michener 1974) and are generally thought to not provide additional care for individual brood, apart from defending the nest (Lin and Michener 1972). In species with ‘‘progressive provisioning,’’ adults feed the larvae periodically throughout development In such species, helping behavior may be advantageous, because in the event of the death of the egg-layer (or primary caregiver), related helpers assure that any initial investment in reproduction still pays off in terms of fitness (Queller 1989; 1994; Gadagkar 1990). Such insurance benefits (‘‘assured fitness returns’’) were thought to be of minimal importance in groups that are characterized by mass provisioning (but see Smith et al 2003).
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