Mating frequency and genetic relatedness of workers in the hornet Vespa analis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) |
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Authors: | Jun-ichi TAKAHASHI Shin'ichi AKIMOTO Jun NAKAMURA Eisuke HASEGAWA |
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Institution: | Laboratory of Systematic Entomology and;Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Systematics, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo and;Honeybee Science Research Center, Tamagawa University, Machida, Tokyo, Japan |
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Abstract: | Mating frequency of Vespa analis queens and the genetic relatedness of their workers was analyzed by DNA microsatellite genotyping. Of 20 colonies studied, 18 had a queen inseminated by a single male and two had queens each inseminated by two males. The estimated effective number of matings was 1.05 ± 0.037 (mean ± SE), with 75–85% of the offspring of the two multiply mated queens sired by a single male. The pedigree relatedness between nestmate workers averaged over the 20 colonies was estimated to be 0.74 ± 0.008, almost identical to the predicted value of 0.75 for colonies headed by a singly mated queen. Multiple matrilines; that is, the presence of workers not related to the current queens, were detected in six colonies, suggesting that queen replacement occurred via usurpation of the founding queens in these six colonies. These results demonstrate that the kin structure of V. analis is similar to that reported in other vespid species. |
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Keywords: | hornet kinship microsatellites paternity frequency relatedness |
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