Abstract
Social insects are well known for their high level of cooperation. Workers of the primitively eusocial bumblebee Bombus terrestris are able to produce male offspring in the presence of a queen. Nonetheless, they only compete for reproduction, in the so-called competition phase, when the workforce is large enough to support the rearing of reproductives. So far, little is known about the proximate mechanisms underlying the shift between altruism and selfish behaviour in bumblebee workers. In this study, we have examined the influence of chemical cues from the nest wax on the onset of worker reproduction. Chemical analyses of wax extracts have revealed that the patterns and amounts of cuticular lipids change considerably during colony development. These changes in wax scent mirror worker abundance and the presence of fertile workers. In bioassays with queen-right worker groups, wax affects the dominance behaviour and ovarian development of workers. When exposed to wax from a colony in competition phase, workers start to compete for reproduction. We suggest that wax scent enables workers to time their reproduction by providing essential information concerning the social condition of the colony.
Highlights
Thousands of social wasp, ant, bee and termite species are distributed worldwide and dominate many terrestrial habitats [1]
To demonstrate that changes in wax scent pattern during colony development occur independent from colony identity, we examined the effect of colony identity, colony age and wax type on the relative compound amounts by computing generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs; repeated measure approach including colony identity as random factor)
Our chemical analyses of wax scent revealed that the concentration and the relative composition of cuticular lipid compounds in wax changed dramatically during colony development
Summary
Ant, bee and termite species are distributed worldwide and dominate many terrestrial habitats [1]. Social Hymenoptera, reproduction is limited to one or a few individuals, the queens, whereas the 2 majority of female nest-mates, the workers, remains sterile and focuses on tasks such as brood care, foraging, nest maintenance and defence [3]. As these colonies basically consist of mother and daughter groups, workers contribute indirectly to the generation in ensuring the successful rearing of closely related individuals [4]
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