Queen Acceptance Research Articles

Queen-Worker Conflict over Acceptance of Secondary Queens in Eusocial Insects.

AbstractThe coexistence of multiple reproductives in eusocial insects is widespread, yet the decisions leading to additional queen acceptance are not well understood. Unlike in vertebrates, acceptance decisions are likely controlled by the more numerous helper population rather than the parent reproductive. Yet there are likely to be queen-worker differences in acceptance criteria because workers and queens differ in their relatedness to a secondary queen. We develop a model that examines queen-worker conflict in two scenarios: accepting a queen's sister or daughter. We additionally ask how the mating frequency and split sex ratios affect the outcomes of these conflicts. Our results reveal that conflict over queen acceptance is highest in monandrous mating systems. We identify a "window of conflict" in which a queen is selected to accept her sister but her workers do not. Our result, that polyandry neutralizes conflict over acceptance thresholds, suggests that conflict suppression may be an additional contributor to the maintenance of polyandrous mating systems.

Effect of requeening on colony development in the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris

To test the effects of requeening in Bombus terrestris, at colony foundation phase, a total of 60 colonies were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. The first group (S) involved colonies that were requeened with newly hibernated queens after all the workers in the first brood had emerged. In the second group (P), we requeened the colonies with newly hibernated queens when they reached some 40 workers and in the third group (C), original queens of colonies were retained and considered as a control group. Queen acceptance rate was far lower in the P group (40%) than in the S group (90%). Colony lifespan was significantly longer in the P group (83.57 ± 3.55 days) than in the C group (76.70 ± 2.76 days). We found no significant difference in the number and timing of sexual production between groups. The results suggest that the requeening method is not suitable for bumble bee mass rearing. But, during the early phase of colony growth if the founder queen dies, introducing a new queen to the colony can be useful to reduce colony loss.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE ACCEPTANCE OF HONEYBEE QUEEN CUPS AND ROYAL JELLY PRODUCTION

Royal jelly is one of the most important honey bee products. it plays vital roles in honeybee biology and in the improvement of human health. Production of royal jelly affecting by many factors. The study aimed to investigate some factors affecting the honeybee queen's acceptance and the amount produce of royal jelly. Effecting of different batches within cub positions during different seasons were studied. The colonies were moved from their original place in the middle of the day to another place away inside the apiary. It was equipped with empty wooden colonies that placed in the places of the original breeding colonies. The highest acceptance percentage mean was 62.7±5.013 % recorded at third batch.As the lowest percentage mean was 54 ±4.855 % recorded at fifth batch, the highest royal jelly quantity mean was 153.5±5.887 % recorded in third batch.As the lowest percentage mean was 141.2 ±6.149recorded in fifth batch. The grafted queen cups acceptance percentages mean affecting significant by cups position, different seasons and patches.

Queen acceptance in a socially polymorphic ant

A central question in social evolution is what processes regulate the number of breeders in each social group. Here, we tested whether differences in the rate of acceptance of new queens by resident workers could be a proximate cause explaining the coexistence of single- and multiple-queen colonies in an ant population. We found that Formica selysi workers discriminated against foreign (non-nestmate) queens, which contributes to maintaining the genetic integrity of the social group essential to kin selection. All the young and newly mated foreign queens introduced into experimental groups of workers died within 48 h. In contrast, workers frequently accepted young newly mated nestmate queens. The survival of nestmate queens was not significantly lower in groups of workers originating from single-queen colonies than in groups of workers originating from multiple-queen colonies. Finally, virgin queens had significantly higher survival than mated queens. Together, these results show that the maintenance of single-queen and multiple-queen colonies in the same population is unlikely to be caused by strong differences between the two types of colonies in their rate of acceptance of new queens by workers. They also suggest that the discrimination of queens by resident workers restricts the dispersal of foreign queens among colonies, but not the acceptance of additional nestmate queens.

The relationship between Varroa destructor infestation and virgin queen’s acceptance, mating success and onset of oviposition in honeybee colonies

This study was conducted to evaluate the role of level infestation of the Varroa destructormite on virgin queen's acceptance, mating success and pre-oviposition period when their introduced into Carniolan honeybee, Apis mellifera colonies. According to level infestation of mite, the colonies were divided into three groups, each contained 15 colonies, low (5% ± 0.3); moderate (12% ± 0.7) and high (20% ± 0.9). The results showed that the varroa level significant influence virgin queen's acceptance, mating success and somewhat influence their onset of oviposition. The results mentioned that, low infestation level was more accepted and reached mating success 100% than both moderate and high levels (mating success were 91.67% and 80.0%, respectively). Pre-oviposition periods were (8.9 ± 1.05; 11.1 ± 0.89 and 11.6 ± 1.45 days), recorded at low, moderate and high mite infestation levels, respectively. Beekeepers can get an economic benefit from introducing queen bees and improving introduction acceptance and mating success by control varroa mite before queen introduction.

Independent hybrid populations of Formica polyctena X rufa wood ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) abound under conditions of forest fragmentation

Combined genetic and morphological data indicate frequent hybridisation between the wood ants Formica polyctena Forster 1850 and F. rufa Linnaeus 1761 in Central Europe. The genetic and morphological traits give a concordant picture of hybridisation with a strong correlation between the genotypic admixture proportions at 19 microsatellite loci and the first vectors of a principal component analysis (P < 0.001) and of a 3-class discriminant analysis (P < 0.001) of 15 quantitative morphological characters. This integrative approach enabled a grouping into F. polyctena, the hybrid and rufa. Genetic differentiation between the hybrid and F. rufa is significantly larger than between the hybrid and polyctena, indicating gene flow mainly between the latter entities. A suggested gene flow bias towards F. polyctena agrees with differential queen acceptance and mating behaviour. Both genetic and phenotypic colony parameters indicate predominance of monogyny in F. rufa but of polygyny in polyctena and the hybrid. Hybrids are intermediate between the parental species in body size, diagnostic morphological characters, monogyny frequency, size of nest population, nest diameter and infestation rate with epizootic fungi. The three entities respond differently to woodland fragmentation. Hybrids are significantly more abundant in forests with a coherent area <300 ha than in woodland above this size. Regions with high hybrid frequency in Germany—the Eastern Oberlausitz (23%) and the Baltic Sea islands Darss, Hiddensee and Rugen (28%)—are characterised by a fragmented woodland structure whereas regions with low hybrid frequency—Brandenburg and the lower Erzgebirge (3.4%)—have clearly larger and more coherent forest systems. Data from other European countries indicate habitat fragmentation to be a facilitating factor but no essential precondition for interspecific hybridisation in these ants. Hybrids are hypothesised to have selective advantage in fragmented systems because of combining the main reproductive and dispersal strategies of the parental species.

A scientific note on virgin queen acceptance in stingless bees: evidence for the importance of queen aggression

Stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini), which areclose relatives to honey bees (Apidae, Apini) andshare with them a highly eusocial colonial organi-zation (Michener, 2000), are remarkable for theirhabit of producing virgin queens throughout theyear (Engels and Imperatriz-Fonseca, 1990). Mostof these queens are not needed for a colony’s sur-vival or division, however, and get executed sometime after their emergence (Imperatriz-Fonseca andZucchi, 1995). Only little is known about the mech-anism that releases the execution behavior in work-ers or about how a particular virgin queen is cho-sen as a new queen. Recently, we found that in

Behavioral and Chemical Correlates of Long-Term Queen Adoption in the Facultative Polygynous Ant Ectatomma tuberculatum

In ants, queen adoption is a common way of achieving secondary polygyny but the mechanisms involved are little known. Here we studied the process of long-term adoptions of alien queens in the facultative polygynous ant Ectatomma tuberculatum. In eight out of 10 successful adoption experiments, all the introduced queens showed similar behavior and fecundity as the resident queens even after 2 months, indicating complete integration into the colony. Chemical analysis revealed that the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of resident and introduced queens were clearly distinct from those of workers and that they did not change after adoption. We propose that queen-specific cuticular hydrocarbon profile may represent a reliable signal of queen’s fertility and discuss about the evolution of high level of queen acceptance in E. tuberculatum.

Origin and rearing season of honeybee queens affect some of their physiological and reproductive characteristics

AbstractQueen honeybees of Apis mellifera ligustica and Apis mellifera syriaca were raised to investigate physiological and reproductive characteristics and to determine the most suitable time for queen rearing under semi‐arid conditions in Jordan. The queen rearing season as well as the origin of the queens affected the queens’ weight, acceptance, preoviposition period, volume of the spermatheca, and quantity and quality of sperm in the spermatheca. Italian bees were heavier than Syrian bees at emergence. The introduced queen acceptance rate appeared to be a genetic influence of the queen: A. m. ligustica virgin queens were accepted at a higher rate than were A. m. syriaca queens. There were large seasonal variations in the acceptance rate. Experimental bee colonies accepted their virgin queens during spring with good honey flows at a higher rate compared to the other rearing periods. The greatest mating success was achieved in May and the smallest was during July and August. The preoviposition period was shorter in the Syrian than in the Italian queens, and was longer during summer for both honeybee subspecies. The volume of the spermatheca was smaller in Syrian bees and the spermatheca had lower numbers of spermatozoa compared with Italian bees. Thus, under semi‐arid Mediterranean region conditions, it is highly recommended to raise virgin queens in the spring months only to obtain their highest quality.

Queen acceptance and the complexity of nestmate discrimination in the Argentine ant

In most social insect species, individuals recognize and behave aggressively towards non-nestmate conspecifics to maintain colony integrity. However, introduced populations of the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, exhibit pronounced variation in intraspecific aggression denoting diversity in nestmate recognition behavior, which possibly shapes their social structure and the varying levels of unicoloniality observed among these populations. One approach to better understand differential aggression behaviors towards conspecifics and recognition cue perception and response in L. humile is to examine variation in nestmate discrimination capability among genetically distinct colonies under different social contexts. Consequently, we investigated the dynamics of queen and worker recognition in southeastern US L. humile queenless and queenright colonies by measuring rates of non-nestmate worker and queen adoption and intercolony genetic similarity. Aggression levels between colony pairs differed and were associated with non-nestmate worker, but not queen adoption. Adoption of queens and workers was a function of host colony origin, while colony queen number affected adoption of queens, but not workers, with queens more readily accepted by queenless hosts. Fecundity of adopted non-nestmate queens was comparable to that of rejected non-nestmate and host colony queens, suggesting that queen fecundity did not affect adoption decisions. Genetic similarity between colonies ranged from 30 to 77% alleles shared, with more genetically similar colonies showing lower levels of intraspecific aggression. Non-nestmate queens and workers that were more genetically similar to host colony workers were more likely to be adopted. We provide the first evidence for the role of L. humile colony queen number on queen discrimination and suggest an effect of resident queens on worker conspecific acceptance thresholds. Our findings indicate a role for genetically based cues in L. humile nestmate recognition. However, subtle discrimination capability seems to be influenced by the social context, as demonstrated by more frequent recognition errors in queenless colonies.

The influence of season and volatile compounds on the acceptance of introduced European honey bee (Apis mellifera) Queens into European and Africanized colonies

Mated European honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens were introduced into Africanized and European colonies to determine if acceptance rates differed. Prior to introduction, volatile compounds emitted by queens were collected. More queens were accepted by European colonies compared with Africanized. The highest supersedure rate occurred in Africanized colonies during summer introductions. Queen acceptance did not differ between European and Africanized colonies during spring or fall introductions. E-s-ocimene was the only compound consistently detected in queens prior to their introduction, and was present in lower amounts in queens that were rejected within the first week of their introduction. The best time to introduce European queens appears to be in the fall when overall rejection rates are the lowest.

Queen Introduction, Acceptance, and Survival in Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Colonies of a Tropical, Africanized Region

The acceptance and survival of queens in honey bee, Apis mellifera L., colonies located in a tropical region of Mexico were recorded. Four methods of queen introduction were compared: the traditional (Benton mailing-cage), the traditional plus smearing hexadecane on the cage, the traditional plus rubbing the old queen on the cage screen, and the traditional plus smearing vanilla essence on the cage. The highest rate of queen acceptance was obtained with the traditional method, which yielded 80.4% successful introductions. This method differed from the traditional plus hexadecane and from the traditional plus old queen rubbing methods, but was not different from the traditional plus vanilla essence method, Of the original experimental queens, 60.8, 39.6, and 28.1% were still in their hives, 6, 9, and 12 mo after being introduced and accepted in colonies. Queen replacement and queen loss increased over time. Six, 9, and 12 mo after queen introduction, 28.8, 46.2, and 56.5% of the experimental colonies had new queens; whereas in 10.4, 14.2, and 15.4% of them, no queens were found for the same periods, respectively. These results do not support the use of chemicals and queen substances to increase queen acceptance by workers in honey bee colonies. Therefore, it is suggested that beekeepers continue using the traditional methods of queen introduction, until more reliable methods are developed and tested. Results on queen survival suggest that colonies should be requeened every 6-9 mo in tropical, Africanized regions.

Queen acceptance and nestmate recognition in monogyne and polygyne colonies of the antFormica truncorum

In ants permanent polygyny (the permanent presence of multiple reproducing queens) commonly arises secondarily through the adoption of daughter queens. Polygyny decreases the relatedness among nestmate workers and consequently the genetic benefits from helping close relatives. Hence, studies on nestmate recognition and queen adoption may shed light on how queen numbers are regulated as well as on causes of variation in queen number. In this study acceptance of nestmate and non-nestmate young queens in monogyne (single queen) and polygyne colonies of the antFormica truncorumwas compared. Queen number varies in this species: in some populations colonies have a single queen (monogyne populations), whereas in others all colonies contain several functional queens (polygyne populations). Young queens introduced into the experimental colonies varied with respect to female origin (nestmate versus non-nestmate), dispersal prospects as reflected by wing status (wingless versus winged) and mating status (mated versus virgin). Monogyne and polygyne colonies differed in one fundamental way in their responses to introduced females. Workers of monogyne colonies, but not those of polygyne colonies, discriminated between nestmate and non-nestmate females. In both monogyne and polygyne colonies mated females were destroyed to a higher extent than virgin ones, largely independently of wing status. None the less, mated females may have a reasonable chance of becoming adopted in their natal colony both in monogyne and polygyne colonies. If so, the single-queen status of monogyne colonies may be retained by a high rate of female dispersal in combination with few intra-nidal mating opportunities. Polygyne colonies are characterized by both a low degree of female rejection and low levels of discrimination between nestmates and non-nestmates. Nevertheless, previous genetic and behavioural data on female dispersal suggest that the majority of new queens adopted into polygyne colonies are their own daughters.

Interspecific rearing and acceptance of queens between Apis cerana Fabricius, 1793 and Apis koschevnikovi Buttel-Reepen, 1906

L'acceptation interspecifique reciproque du couvain de mâles et de mâles adultes d'A cerana et d'A koschevnikovi pose la question de savoir s'il en est de meme pour les larves de reines et les reines adultes de ces deux especes. Dans des colonies orphelines d'A cerana et d'A koschevnikovi on a introduit des cellules royales artificielles renfermant de jeunes larves soit de la meme espece, soit de l'autres espece. Les deux especes d'abeilles melliferes ont prefere elever les larves de leur propre espece. Les colonies d'A cerana, en particulier, ont constamment choisi les larves de leur espece (fig 1) : seules quatre reines d'A koschevnikoviont ete elevees, alors que 42 reines d'A cerana ont emerge pendant la meme periode (tableau la). La selection par les colonies d'A koschevnikovi a ete moins severe (fig 2) : 30 reines d'A cerana et 72 reines d'A koschevnikovi ont ete elevees (tableau 1b). Pour tester l'acceptation des reines, des cellules royales mures (1 a 2 j avant l'emergence) ont ete introduites dans des colonies orphelines de l'autre espece et - a condition que les ouvrieres n'aient pas detruit la cellule royale - la jeune reine a emerge dans la colonie etrangere. Sur 18 cellules royales d'A cerana introduites dans des colonies d'A koschevnikovi, nous avons trouve dix jeunes reines d'A cerana (huit cellules royales ont ete detruites). Les reines etrangeres fraichement ecloses n'ont pas beaucoup attire l'attention des ouvrieres le premier jour mais, plus tard, elles ont ete constamment entourees par des ouvrieres qui les mordaient et elles sont mortes par emballement (tableau Il). Les colonies d'A cerana ont detruit a un stade precoce presque 50 % des cellules royales etrangeres. Dans six colonies d'A cerana, les reines d'A koschevnikovi ont ete tuees au cours des premiers jours. Mais dans quatre colonies d'A cerana le comportement agressif des ouvrieres envers la reine etrangere a diminue au bout de deux jours. Une reine d'A koschevnikovi n'est pas rentree de son vol de fecondation. Trois reines se sont accouplees et ont commence a pondre quatre jours apres le dernier vol de fecondation (tableau II). Les oeufs ont eclos et les ouvrieres d'A cerana ont eleve avec succes le couvain d'A koschevnikovi. Les ouvrieres d'A koschevnikovi recemment ecloses ont rendu la population d'ouvrieres de la colonie d'A cerana graduellement heterospecifique jusqu'a ce que les ouvrieres d'A cerana soient toutes remplacees par des ouvrieres d'A koschevnikovi. Les vols de fecondation des reines d'A koschevnikovi ont eu lieu entre 17 h et 18 h 15 (tableau III). L'heure moyenne des vols de reines des colonies d'A cerana s'est situee a 17 h 48, celle des reines des colonies d'A koschevnikovi a 17 h 43. Il n'y a pas eu de difference significative entre les reines s'envolant de colonies etrangeres et celles s'envolant de colonies de la meme espece en ce qui concerne l'activite totale de vol et la duree des vols de fecondation reussis (p = 0,83, Wilcoxon Rank Sum W test).

Nestmate discrimination and competition in incipient colonies of fire ants

Workers from incipient colonies of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, are less aggressive towards conspecific non-nestmates than are workers from reproductively mature colonies. This often leads to brood raiding between incipient colonies, where workers take brood from other incipient colonies without opposition. The development of aggressive reactions by incipient colony workers and queens towards non-nestmate workers and queens was examined. Both workers and queens show nestmate discrimination from the earliest stages of colony activity. Workers from the colony’s first cohort vigorously attacked workers from mature colonies. These same workers rarely attacked non-nestmate workers from incipient colonies, although they were more aggressive towards them than towards nestmates. Workers and queens often vigorously attacked non-nestmate queens, and were more aggressive towards unfamiliar than familiar queens. Queens bitten by workers were likely to be expelled or killed within 3 days of introduction. The highly aggressive response of incipient colony workers towards unfamiliar queens suggests that brood-raiding colonies do not consolidate for mutual benefit. Rather, they struggle for possession of brood while attempting to prevent the entry of additional reproductive females into the colony. In addition, heritable cues were neither necessary nor sufficient for worker acceptance of queens. Finally, although incipient colony workers from colonies with four foundresses were slightly less aggressive towards non-nestmates than workers in colonies with single foundresses, they still discriminated against non-nestmate queens. This result suggests that cooperative nest founding alone cannot explain the development of non-territorial, polygyne S. invicta colonies.

Colony Performance of Selected Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Strains Used for Alfalfa Pollination

High and low pollen-hoarding strains of honey bees were selected based on quantity of pollen stored in combs. Performance of strains in commercial alfalfa seed pollination is reported. After three generations of selection, colonies with instrumentally inseminated high-strain queens stored significantly more pollen (2.4-fold) than low-strain colonies. Similarly, colonies from naturally mated, outcrossed high-strain queens stored more pollen (2.4-fold) than outcrossed low-strain colonies. Selection did not change preferences for sources of pollen. After four generations of selection, colonies with naturally mated high-strain queens outcrossed with commercial drones stored significantly more pollen (l.4-fold) than commercial colonies. Rates of queen acceptance (54 and 61%) and overwintering survival (61%) in commercially managed colonies were surprisingly low, indicating 37% queen survival during a 10-mo period. Overwintered outcrossed high-strain colonies were more populous than commercial colonies at the beginning of almond bloom.

Fluvalinate treatment of queen and worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L) and effects on subsequent mortality, queen acceptance and supersedure

Fluvalinate treatment of queen and worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L) and effects on subsequent mortality, queen acceptance and supersedure

Kin recognition and virgin queen acceptance by worker honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.)

Virgin honey bee queens provide genetic cues that can be used by workers to assess genetic relationships. We found that groups of caged workers, taken directly from colonies containing a functional queen and two patrilineal subfamilies, could distinguish among queens of different degrees of kinship. The first virgin queen that an individual worker encountered was assessed by that worker on the basis of her kinship similarity to the individual interacting worker or her similarity to the caged group. When a second virgin queen was introduced, she was assessed by workers based on her similarity to the first virgin queen. The outcome of the ensuing fight to the death among the two introduced queens was dependent upon their relationship to each other. The resident queen had a strong advantage when the virgin queens were from different subfamilies but the outcome was nearly even when they were patrilineal sisters.