Abstract
It is well known that factors acting on the decrease of population of honeybees, can act on the male and female reproductive system, compromising the fertility of queens and drones. While there are many studies on female fertility, only a few studies have focused on male fertility and the possible alterations of the reproductive system. The testes of 25 samples of adult drones of Apis mellifera ligustica were analyzed by histopathology using an innovative histological processing technique and the alterations that were found are here described. Most of the samples showed unaltered testes but, in some cases, samples showed degenerated seminiferous tubules, while others appeared immature. Although a limited number of samples were analyzed, the results obtained displayed that histopathological alterations of the testes exist also in honeybees and that more interest should be put to the matter, as honeybees could be considered as bioindicators for endocrine disruptors. Future studies on a larger number of samples are necessary to analyze how different environmental factors can act and induce alterations in the honeybee reproductive system.
Highlights
Honeybees are of proven importance for the agricultural economy and the conservation of biodiversity [1], as given by their global distribution and generalist foraging behavior
Processed with the protocol described above appeared well preserved since tissues were well stained, Samples processed with the protocol described above appeared well preserved since tissues were and artifacts seen
The tubules seminiferous tubules contained follicular that encapsulate to form a thin wall cyst; the tubular lumen was filled with many coiled spermatozoa and germ cells that encapsulate to form a thin wall cyst; the tubular lumen was filled with many (Figure coiled spermatozoa (Figure 1)
Summary
Honeybees are of proven importance for the agricultural economy and the conservation of biodiversity [1], as given by their global distribution and generalist foraging behavior. Honeybees can be considered the most important single pollinator species of a wide variety of wild flora, livestock pastures, and private gardens [2,3]. When a drastic reduction in the number of individuals of a species occurs, effective reproduction is potentially the key to perpetuation and conservation of the species. The stressors mentioned above are able to directly or indirectly have pathological effects on the reproductive system of honeybees, impairing their fertility and often diminishing the number of future offspring that should perpetuate the species [7,8,9]
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