Mother Queen Research Articles

Colonies of Bumble Bees (Bombus impatiens) Produce Fewer Workers, Less Bee Biomass, and Have Smaller Mother Queens Following Fungicide Exposure.

Bees provide vital pollination services to the majority of flowering plants in both natural and agricultural systems. Unfortunately, both native and managed bee populations are experiencing declines, threatening the persistence of these plants and crops. Agricultural chemicals are one possible culprit contributing to bee declines. Even fungicides, generally considered safe for bees, have been shown to disrupt honey bee development and impair bumble bee behavior. Little is known, however, how fungicides may affect bumble bee colony growth. We conducted a controlled cage study to determine the effects of fungicide exposure on colonies of a native bumble bee species (Bombus impatiens). Colonies of B. impatiens were exposed to flowers treated with field-relevant levels of the fungicide chlorothalonil over the course of one month. Colony success was assessed by the number and biomass of larvae, pupae, and adult bumble bees. Bumble bee colonies exposed to fungicide produced fewer workers, lower total bee biomass, and had lighter mother queens than control colonies. Our results suggest that fungicides negatively affect the colony success of a native bumble bee species and that the use of fungicides during bloom has the potential to severely impact the success of native bumble bee populations foraging in agroecosystems.

Reproductive workers show queenlike gene expression in an intermediately eusocial insect, the buff‐tailed bumble bee Bombus terrestris

Bumble bees represent a taxon with an intermediate level of eusociality within Hymenoptera. The clear division of reproduction between a single founding queen and the largely sterile workers is characteristic for highly eusocial species, whereas the morphological similarity between the bumble bee queen and the workers is typical for more primitively eusocial hymenopterans. Also, unlike other highly eusocial hymenopterans, division of labour among worker subcastes is plastic and not predetermined by morphology or age. We conducted a differential expression analysis based on RNA-seq data from 11 combinations of developmental stage and caste to investigate how a single genome can produce the distinct castes of queens, workers and males in the buff-tailed bumble bee Bombus terrestris. Based on expression patterns, we found males to be the most distinct of all adult castes (2411 transcripts differentially expressed compared to nonreproductive workers). However, only relatively few transcripts were differentially expressed between males and workers during development (larvae: 71 and pupae: 162). This indicates the need for more distinct expression patterns to control behaviour and physiology in adults compared to those required to create different morphologies. Among female castes, reproductive workers and their nonreproductive sisters displayed differential expression in over ten times more transcripts compared to the differential expression found between reproductive workers and their mother queen. This suggests a strong shift towards a more queenlike behaviour and physiology when a worker becomes fertile. This contrasts with eusocial species where reproductive workers are more similar to nonreproductive workers than the queen.

Velours et tabis offerts à Léopold Ier : un don du comte de Flandre à la Bibliothèque royale de Belgique (1870)

Prince Philippe of Belgium, Count of Flanders (1837-1905), brother of King Leopold II, was one of the most distinguished bibliophile of his time. He inherited the library of King Leopold I, so as the books of his mother Queen Louise-Marie. The Count of Flanders bequeathed 400 documents to the Royal Library of Belgium in 1870. Most of them came from his father. All are presentation or dedication copies given to the King by Belgian and foreign authors. All are preserved in special bindings in velvet, silk or leather, gilt, with the King’arms, his cyfer, an inscription by the author, by the best bookbinders of that time (1830-1865). Those documents are now very important for the study of the art of bookbinding in the nineteenth century.

Influence of combined pesticide and parasite exposure on bumblebee colony traits in the laboratory

Summary Pollinating insects provide vital ecosystem services of enormous importance for economies and biodiversity. Yet, there is a concerning global trend of pollinator declines. Parasites and pesticides are among the suspected principle drivers of these declines. However, especially in the case of key wild pollinators, there are insufficient data on the relative impact of these individual environmental stressors and whether they interact to increase detrimental effects. Using a fully crossed factorial design, we investigated how laboratory exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides, thiamethoxam and clothianidin, over a 9‐week period and a prevalent trypanosome gut parasite Crithidia bombi affects various crucial colony traits of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. We show that chronic dietary exposure from an early stage of colony development to doses of thiamethoxam and clothianidin that could be encountered in the field truncated worker production, reduced worker longevity and decreased overall colony reproductive success. Further, we demonstrate a significant interaction between neonicotinoid exposure and parasite infection on mother queen survival. The fate of the mother queen is intrinsically linked to colony success, and under combined pressure of parasite infection and neonicotinoid exposure, mother queen survival was lowest. This indicates increased detrimental effects of combined exposure on this crucial colony trait. Combined effects may be exacerbated in stressful natural environments where more pronounced parasite virulence is expected. Synthesis and applications. Our findings reiterate that dietary exposure to neonicotinoids can impact on bumblebee colony performance and fitness. The indication of combined negative effects of ecologically relevant pressures suggests additional adverse consequences for long‐term population dynamics under complex field conditions. To help safeguard pollinator health, whole life‐cycle fitness assessments, particularly for non‐Apis bees, stringently incorporating chronic and sublethal side effects of pesticides, as well as interactions with common natural stressors, such as prevalent parasites, should be considered in the corresponding test guidelines.

Sneaky queens in Melipona bees selectively detect and infiltrate queenless colonies

Insect societies are characterized by advanced cooperation, but at the same time the complexity of their colonies renders them susceptible to reproductive parasitism. Recently, a genetic study on the Brazilian stingless bee Melipona scutellaris showed that unrelated queens frequently invade and take over colonies in which the mother queen had died. In the present study, we investigated this phenomenon using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. We confirmed that alien queen take-overs are common within this species, and demonstrated that mated queens actively seek out colonies without a queen to reproduce in. Furthermore, we found that queens only penetrate their target colonies in the evening, when guarding efficiency is significantly reduced. We hypothesize that this strategy reduces the chance of the queens being attacked by entrance guards, thus maximizing their chance of successful infiltration.

Recognition of caste and mating status maintains monogyny in the ant Aphaenogaster senilis

In ants dispersing through colony fission, queens mate near their natal nest and found a new society with the help of workers. This allows potential future queens to challenge the mother queen's reproductive monopoly. Conflicts might be resolved if the mated queen signals her presence and the workers control the developmental fate of the diploid larvae (whether they develop to worker or queen). In this study we sought to determine whether, in the fission- performing ant Aphaenogaster senilis, conflicts between queens for control of the colony are resolved by the resident queen signalling her mating status. Virgin queens were less effective thannewly mated queensininhibitingqueen rearing. Moreover, potential challenger queens were recognized and heavily aggressed independent of mating status. Chemical analyses showed that mating status was associated with changes in cuticular hydrocarbon and poison gland composi- tion, but not in Dufour's gland composition. Cuticular dimethylalkanes were identified as potential constituents that signal both caste (present in queens only) and mating status (mated queens have higher amounts). We hypothesised that pheromone emission by virgin queens did not reach the threshold needed to fully inhibit larval development into queens but was sufficiently high to stimulate overt aggression by mated queens. These findings provide evidence for the complexity of chemical communication in social insects, in which a small number of signals may havea variety of effects, depending on the context.

Factors influencing survival duration and choice of virgin queens in the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata

In Melipona quadrifasciata, about 10% of the females develop into queens, almost all of which are killed. Occasionally, a new queen replaces or supersedes the mother queen or heads a new colony. We investigated virgin queen fate in queenright and queenless colonies to determine the effects of queen behaviour, body mass, nestmate or non-nestmate status, queenright or queenless colony status, and, when queenless, the effect of the time a colony had been queenless, on survival duration and acceptance. None of 220 virgin queens observed in four observation hives ever attacked another virgin queen nor did any of 88 virgin queens introduced into queenright colonies ever attack the resident queen. A new queen was only accepted in a queenless colony. Factors increasing survival duration and acceptance of virgin queens were to emerge from its cell at 2 h of queenlessness, to hide, and to avoid fights with workers. In this way, a virgin queen was more likely to be available when a colony chooses a new queen, 24-48 h after resident queen removal. Running, walking or resting, antennating or trophallaxis, played little or no role, as did the factors body mass or nestmate. "Queen choice" took about 2 h during which time other virgin queens were still being killed by workers. During this agitated process, the bees congregated around the new queen. She inflated her abdomen and some of the workers deposited a substance on internal nest surfaces including the glass lid of the observation hive.

Absence of Within‐Colony Kin Discrimination in a Multiple‐Queen Ant, Leptothorax acervorum

AbstractInclusive fitness theory predicts that, other things equal, individuals within social groups should direct altruistic behaviour towards their most highly related group‐mates to maximise indirect fitness benefits. In the social insects, most previous studies have shown that within‐colony kin discrimination (nepotism) is absent or weak. However, the number of studies that have investigated within‐colony kin discrimination at the level of individual behaviour remains relatively small. We tested for within‐colony kin discrimination in the facultatively multiple‐queen (polygynous) ant, Leptothorax acervorum. Specifically, we tested whether workers within polygynous colonies treated queens differently as a function of their relatedness to them. Colonies containing two egg‐laying queens were filmed to measure the rate at which individually marked workers antennated and groomed or fed each queen. Relatedness between individual queens and workers was calculated from their genotypes at four microsatellite loci. The results showed there were no differences in the rates at which workers antennated or groomed/fed their more related queen and their less related queen. Workers interacted preferentially with their potential mother queen with respect to grooming/feeding but not with respect to antennation. However, because of high queen turnover, the frequency of adult workers with their potential mother queen still present within the colony was relatively low. Overall, therefore, we found no evidence for within‐colony kin discrimination in the context of the average worker's treatment of queens in polygynous L. acervorum colonies.

Number of honeybee colonies in areas with high and low beekeeping activity in Southern Mexico

The number of colonies in feral and managed honeybee populations (Apis mellifera) was determined for various sampling locations in Chiapas and Yucatan (Mexico) to assess the impact of apiculture on feral honeybee populations. We used a comparative sampling approach determining the number of colonies in similar habitats and landscapes but with different intensity of beekeeping. Sampling sites included nature reserves, and mango and shaded coffee plantations. The agricultural sites were all set in high-diversity landscapes with plenty of surrounding secondary forest. The number of colonies was determined by genotyping drones caught on drone congregation areas and assigning the drone genotypes to mother queens each heading a colony. We used three sets of linked markers each to achieve sufficient resolution for a precise colony assignment. The estimated colony numbers ranged from 34 to 54 colonies, with an average of 38.3 ± 6.9 colonies in areas with high and 43.5 ± 6.6 colonies in areas with low beekeeping activity. There was no significant difference in colony numbers between the sites with high and low beekeeping activity suggesting that the managed honeybee populations do not substantially add to the overall number of honeybee colonies supported in the wild. This might indicate that restrictions on apicultural activities to prevent any potential conservation conflict with native pollinators might not be useful, since honeybee colonies are very abundant in many different landscapes in Southern Mexico independent of apiculture.

Social Hybridogenesis in the Clonal Ant Cataglyphis hispanica

With a few rare exceptions, the vast majority of animals reproduce sexually. Some species have, however, evolved alternative modes of reproduction by shifting from classical bisexuality to unorthodox reproductive systems, like parthenogenesis, gynogenesis, or hybridogenesis. Under hybridogenesis, both the maternal and paternal genomes are expressed in somatic tissues, whereas the germline is purely maternal. Recently, a form of hybridogenesis at the level of the society has been reported in some ants, where purebred females develop into reproductive queens and interlineage hybrids into sterile workers. Here, we report a unique case of social hybridogenesis in the desert ant Cataglyphis hispanica. Workers are produced exclusively from interbreeding between two distinct genetic lineages, whereas male and female sexuals are produced by asexual reproduction through parthenogenesis. As a consequence, all workers are pure hybridogens, and only maternal genes are perpetuated from one generation to the next. Thus, queens of C. hispanica use sexual reproduction for colony growth, whereas they reproduce asexually through parthenogenesis for germline production.

Colony fissioning in honey bees: size and significance of the swarm fraction

During colony founding in honey bees, a portion of a colony’s workforce (the “swarm fraction”) departs with the old mother queen in a swarm while the remaining workforce stays with a new daughter queen in the parental nest. There is little quantitative information about swarm fraction size and about how swarm fraction size affects the growth and survival of mother-queen and daughter-queen colonies. We measured (a) the swarm fraction in naturally fissioning honey bee colonies, (b) the growth and survival of mother-queen colonies as a function of swarm size, and (c) the growth and survival of mother-queen and daughter-queen colonies as a function of the swarm fraction. We found an average swarm fraction of 0.75. We also found a significant positive effect of swarm size and swarm fraction on the growth (i.e., comb built, brood produced, food stored, and weight gained) and the survival of mother-queen colonies. We found no effect of swarm fraction on the survival of daughter-queen colonies. Evidently, a honey bee colony must devote a large majority of its workforce to a swarm so that the mother-queen colony can grow sufficiently rapidly to survive its first winter.

Swarming Generates Rebel Workers in Honeybees

According to kin selection theory, the colony kin structure of eusocial insects motivates workers' altruistic behaviors and therefore their sterility or restricted reproduction [1]. Indeed, theory and cross-species comparison confirm that workers engage in their own reproduction depending on relatedness among colony members [2, 3]. We show that in a honeybee colony, the workers switch from their typical altruistic role to a more selfish one if at their larval stage there are environmental cues of an upcoming decline in intracolony relatedness. This happens inevitably when a colony multiplies by swarming and replaces the mother queen with her daughter, because the mother queen's workers are faced with rearing the sister queen's offspring related to them half as much as between sisters. Workers developing from the mother queen's eggs immediately after swarming, in a temporarily queenless colony, had more ovarioles in their ovaries and less-developed hypopharyngeal glands producing brood food than control workers reared in queenright conditions. These "rebel" workers were more engaged in laying their own male-determined eggs than in rearing offspring, whether or not the sister queen was present in the colony. The finding of this previously unknown rebel strategy confirms that kin selection shapes both cooperation and conflict in honeybee societies.

The Politics of Patronage and the Igun Artworker in Benin City

The contrast between kings of the old empire state of Benin and the politics of patronage in Benin City in the twentieth century has had its effects on the traditions of Igun, the brass-casters guild. However, the shift in their fortunes caused by the fall of Oba Ovonramwen (1897) and the subsequent renaissance by Obas Eweka II (1914– 1933) and Akenzua (1933–1978), who opened the market for non-royal patronage, is still playing out. Today, works by Benin casters commemorate the traumatic events in Benin history in monuments and sculptures. They sell their products to an outsider market as well as to Nigeria’s nouveau-riche, among them portraits in brass. To the twentyfirst century Igun artist, portraits of governors are no less historical documents than those of Oba Esigie (1504–1547) and his mother Queen Idia. These are the two extremes of one continuum, represented here in photographs with extended captions that evoke historical contexts and explore these fascinating processes. The brass workers’ guild is located on Igun Street in Benin City, a destination for tourists and scholars from all over the world. Obas Eweka II (1914–1933) and Akenzua (1933–1978), father and grandfather of the current Oba, opened the market for non-royal patronage, enabling the guildsmen to survive and, in time, to thrive. It is a common feature to find there a crossover of traditional and contemporary artists today.

Hydrocarbon Signatures of Egg Maternity, Caste Membership and Reproductive Status in the Common Wasp

In most ants, bees, and wasps, the workers are capable of challenging the reproductive monopoly of the queen by laying unfertilized, male eggs. An important mechanism that can resolve this conflict is policing, whereby the queen or workers prevent successful worker reproduction by selectively eating worker-laid eggs or by attacking egg-laying workers. Egg policing by workers has been shown to occur in several social wasp species, but the information used by worker wasps to discriminate between queen-laid and worker-laid eggs has never been investigated. Our aim, therefore, was to investigate if hydrocarbons might be used in egg policing by workers in the common wasp, Vespula vulgaris, where worker policing previously has been shown to be effective. Our results show that 51 different hydrocarbons are present on the surface of newly-laid eggs, and that there are pronounced quantitative differences in the hydrocarbon profiles of queen-laid and worker-laid eggs, with longer-chained alkenes and methylated alkanes (C(28)-C(31)) in particular being more abundant on the surface of queen-laid eggs. We further show that the hydrocarbon profiles on the surface of queen-laid and worker-laid eggs resemble those found on the mother queen's and workers' cuticles. Interestingly, longer-chained methylated alkanes also were more abundant on the cuticle of both mother queens and reproductive workers, suggesting that these compounds are linked to fertility, as has also been found to be the case in several ant species.

The Royal Household (Rajlok*) of Kachhawa Kings of Jaipur

The aim of this paper is to explore the history of the Rajput rulers of Jaipur through the entry point of its Rajlok. The term Rajlok literally means the space inhabited by large number of queens, concubines, mistresses, patar, other inmates like baiji (princesses) and kawar (prince). Clearly, it was a site of restricted sexuality but excessive filial relationships. The status of ladies was well defined in a hierarchical order. The mother queen i.e. Majee Sahib genially controlled the happenings within the Rajlok. The power of majee sahib was not only confined to the domestic arenas it even extended in to the court and influenced the political shifts. Marriage alliances were forged for political and territorial gains. The queens were identified by their clan names not their personal names. Frequent visits of members from natal family to rajlok were striking feature. The nexus of rajlok not only influenced the marriage alliances with important rajput dynasties but also helped in carving political ambitions. Their chiefs (thikanedars) did same with non-kachhwah clans. The rajlok was also a site for king (Shree jee, huzur, maharajadhiraj) to welcome and bestow honor to the thikanedars. Whenever the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of prominent thikanedar visited rajlok they were presented with gifts and money. On various festivals like teej, rakhi, diwali, dusshera and holi these ladies visited the rajlok. On many occasions ladies of chiefs were also invited. Clearly, relationships between royalty and families of chieftains were cemented through exchange of gifts and presents and by honoring them. The extended rituals performed in court and rajlok depict the hierarchy of thikanas. Thus, these religious happenings and festivals had connotation of political rituals.

Genome-wide analysis of alternative reproductive phenotypes in honeybee workers

A defining feature of social insects is the reproductive division of labour, in which workers usually forego all reproduction to help their mother queen to reproduce. However, little is known about the molecular basis of this spectacular form of altruism. Here, we compared gene expression patterns between nonreproductive, altruistic workers and reproductive, non-altruistic workers in queenless honeybee colonies using a whole-genome microarray analysis. Our results demonstrate massive differences in gene expression patterns between these two sets of workers, with a total of 1292 genes being differentially expressed. In nonreproductive workers, genes associated with energy metabolism and respiration, flight and foraging behaviour, detection of visible light, flight and heart muscle contraction and synaptic transmission were overexpressed relative to reproductive workers. This implies they probably had a higher whole-body energy metabolism and activity rate and were most likely actively foraging, whereas same-aged reproductive workers were not. This pattern is predicted from evolutionary theory, given that reproductive workers should be less willing to compromise their reproductive futures by carrying out high-risk tasks such as foraging or other energetically expensive tasks. By contrast, reproductive workers mainly overexpressed oogenesis-related genes compared to nonreproductive ones. With respect to key switches for ovary activation, several genes involved in steroid biosynthesis were upregulated in reproductive workers, as well as genes known to respond to queen and brood pheromones, genes involved in TOR and insulin signalling pathways and genes located within quantitative trait loci associated with reproductive capacity in honeybees. Overall, our results provide unique insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying alternative reproductive phenotypes in honeybee workers.

The Adherents of Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, in March 1330

Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, was beheaded in March 1330 for treason against his nephew Edward III after he admitted plotting to release his deposed half-brother Edward II from captivity at Corfe Castle. Edward II's death at Berkeley Castle had been publicly announced two and a half years previously, and Kent himself attended the funeral in Gloucester in December 1327. A frequent explanation for the earl's subsequent belief that the former king was still alive assumes that he was stupid and gullible and had been tricked into trying to rescue a dead man to provide an excuse for Edward III's mother Queen Isabella and her paramour Roger Mortimer, ruling the country in the king's name, to execute him. This explanation either ignores altogether the men who supported Kent in his plot, or dismisses them as a few disaffected clerics and a handful of others with grievances against Isabella and Mortimer's rule who did not truly believe in Edward II's survival. This article demonstrates that around seventy men supported Kent in 1330 and provides detailed backgrounds and allegiances for them, showing that the majority had been close to Edward II and had shown great loyalty to him before, during and after the revolution of 1326/27 which swept him from his throne. This sheds new light on the plot and the motives of those who took part, and has profound implications for the very current debate of Edward II's survival after 1327.

Unequal resource allocation among colonies produced by fission in the antCataglyphis cursor

How organisms allocate limited resources to reproduction is critical to their fitness. The size and number of offspring produced have been the focus of many studies. Offspring size affects survival and growth and determines offspring number in the many species where there is a trade-off between size and number. Many social insects reproduce by colony fission, whereby young queens and accompanying workers split off from a colony to form new colonies. The size of a new colony (number of workers) is set at the time of the split, and this may allow fine tuning size to local conditions. Despite the prevalence of colony fission and the ecological importance of social insects, little is known of colony fission except in honey bees. We studied colony fission in the ant Cataglyphis cursor. For clarity, "colony" and "nest" refer to colonies before and after colony fission, respectively (i.e., each colony fissions into several nests). The reproductive effort of colonies was highly variable: Colonies that fissioned varied markedly in size, and many colonies that did not fission were as large as some of the fissioning colonies. The mother queen was replaced in half of the fissioning colonies, which produced 4.0 +/- 1.3 (mean +/- SD) nests of markedly varied size. Larger fissioning colonies produced larger nests but did not produce more nests, and resource allocation among nests was highly biased. When a colony produced several nests and the mother queen was not replaced, the nest containing the mother queen was larger than nests with a young queen. These results show that the pattern of resource allocation differs between C. cursor and honey bees. They also suggest that C. cursor may follow a bet-hedging strategy with regard to both the colony size at which fission occurs and the partitioning of resources among nests. In addition, colony fission may be influenced by the age and/or condition of the mother queen, and the fact that workers allocating resources among nests have incomplete knowledge of the size and number of nests produced. These results show that the process of colony fission is more diverse than currently acknowledged and that studies of additional species are needed.

The effect of induced changes in sexual asymmetry of honey bees (Apis mellifera) on swarming behaviour

This study was built on the assumption that mother (queen) and workers (nurses) distribute their genes either through swarms (female biomass) or through the drones (male biomass). The swarming mood of the bee colonies was suppressed by an exactly defined increase in drone rearing. We studied the efficiency of reproductive investments (on genetic and energetic levels) of the mother and workers to the next generations. The equalization of fitness of the mother and nurses was achieved by a deliberately induced change in numerically stable sex asymmetry of a bee colony. A swarm was compensated with its energy demand and a volume ratio of distributed genetic information. The newly introduced term “reproductive investment complex” (RIC) includes the reproductive potential of the mother and reproductive energy of workers into care for the mother and for the brood. The number of individuals of one sex was closely connected with the weight of individuals of the oppposite sex. The described method of suppression of swarming mood was successfully tested on 60 honey bee colonies over seven years (2003–2009). A number of beekeepers that were acquainted with this method confirmed the success.

The role of microgynes in the reproductive strategy of the neotropical ant Ectatomma ruidum

Miniaturized queens, microgynes, are regarded as an alternative reproductive strategy sparsely present through the ant world. The described roles of miniaturized queens include alternative short-distance dispersal morphs, an adaptation to polygyny and inquiline parasites. Some of these inquiline parasite microgynes have been described as a separate species from their host. In the poneromorph group, miniaturized queens are only reported in two Mexican populations of two Ectatomminae: Ectatomma tuberculatum, in which small queens represent an inquiline species (Ectatomma parasiticum) and Ectatomma ruidum. E. ruidum presents apparently facultative polygyny with microgynes. We used mitochondrial DNA markers and newly developed microsatellite loci to investigate the status as well as the role of microgynes in E. ruidum. We confirmed that microgynes and macrogynes are from the same species. This species is almost exclusively monogynous and monoandrous, supernumerary dealate queens of both types being actually daughters of the mother queen. An apparently polygynous nest was more often headed by a macrogyne than a microgyne. We didn't find any inbreeding or isolation by distance in the studied population, indicating that new gynes are inseminated by unrelated males and can establish a new nest far from their natal nest. However, re-adoption of daughter queens seems to be the rule and rate of microgyny appears to be linked to nest density and environmental factors.