The responses of Apis mellifera jemenitica to different artificial queen rearing techniques

In the current study, we investigated if any variations exist in acceptance rate of grafted larvae and quality of queens reared in different queen cell cup sizes, between wet and dry grafting and between queen right and queen less conditions of A. m. jemenitica colonies. The acceptance rate of grafted larvae in different queen cell cup sizes (7.0 mm, 7.5 mm, 8.0 mm, 8.5 mm) were varying from 69 to 71% and the variations were not significant among the different queen cups sizes but averagely lower than the acceptances recorded for other races. Out of the 172 dry grafted larvae, only 56.4% of them were accepted while in wet grafting out of 174 grafted larvae 77.01% were accepted. Regarding the rate of sealing, 48.84% and 71.84% of them sealed for dry and wet grafts, respectively. The observed variation in the rate of acceptance and sealing were significant (N = 346, df = 1, P < 0.0001) between the two techniques. However, there was no significant difference in fresh weight of emerged queens between the two grafting methods. Out of the 324 grafted larvae given to queen right and queen less starter colonies each; 106 (32.72%) and 252 (73.68%) were accepted in queen right and queen less starter colonies, respectively and the variation was highly significant at P < 0.0001. The total number of sealed pupae were 82 (25.31%) and 216 (63.16%) for queen right and queen less colonies, respectively and the variations was significant at P < 0.0001. From the study it can be concluded that A. m. jemenitica colonies can rear significantly more queens under wet grafting and in queen less colonies conditions than dry grafting and queen right conditions     

移虫日龄对蜂王生长发育的影响

移取1、2、3日龄工蜂幼虫进行人工育王,通过HPLC-MS的方法,分别测定4日龄蜂王幼虫体内保幼激素(JHⅢ)和9日龄蛹体内蜕皮激素(Ecd)的滴度,并通过形态学和解剖学的方法对不同移虫日龄培育的处女王的初生重、卵巢重、头重和卵巢管数进行比较分析,以研究不同移虫日龄对意大利蜂蜂王生长发育的影响。结果显示,不同移虫日龄所培育的蜂王幼虫4日龄JHⅢ和9日龄Ecd浓度均存在显著差异,且随着移虫日龄的增加,蜂王幼虫体内JHⅢ和Ecd含量均显著下降;不同移虫日龄所培育的处女王其初生重、卵巢重、头重及卵巢管数均存在显著差异,且随着移虫日龄的增加,蜂王的初生重、卵巢重和头重显著减轻,蜂王的卵巢管数显著减小;蜂王的初生重和卵巢管数成显著正相关关系,相关系数r=0.82。说明移虫日龄越小幼虫获得的生长条件越好,越有利于蜂王个体尤其是繁殖性状的发育,人工育王实践中应移取虫龄尽量小的幼虫。     

Uncoupling fertility from fertility-associated pheromones in worker honeybees (Apis mellifera)

Fertility-associated pheromones, chemical signals delineating ovarian development, were favourably selected in the course of evolution because it is in the best interest of both the signallers (in recruiting help from other colony members) and the receivers (in assisting them to reach an informed decision of how to maximize fitness). Such signals therefore should constitute honest, deception-proof indicators of ovarian development, suggesting, theoretically, that the processes of ovarian development and signal production are irreversibly coupled. Here we demonstrate that these processes can be uncoupled by treating queenless (QL) honeybee callow workers with methoprene, a juvenile hormone (JH) analog. While methoprene effectively inhibited ovarian development, it neither inhibited Dufour's fertility signal nor the mandibular glands’ dominance signal. In fact, there was even a slight augmentation of both in the methoprene-treated bees. Thus, although fertility and fertility signals are tightly associated, they can be uncoupled by experimental manipulation. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that ovarian development and fertility-associated signal production are triggered by a common event/signal (e.g. queen pheromone disappearance) but comprise different regulatory systems. The evolutionary implication is that these two traits have evolved independently and may have been co-opted to emphasize the reproductive status of workers in the competition for reproduction.     

Influence of immature queen honeybees (Apis mellifera) on queen rearing and foraging

ABSTRACT. Providing queenless colonies with five queen cells containing larvae or pupae diminished the number of queen cells and queen cell cups subsequently produced, but not as effectively as the provision of a mated laying queen. Immature queens were more effective than the mature queens in stimulating pollen collection, but were less effective in stimulating nectar collection.     

Influence of virgin queen honeybees (Apis mellifera) on queen rearing and foraging

ABSTRACT. Virgin queens are as effective as mated laying queens at inhibiting colonies from rearing queens but not from producing queen cell cups. Colonies without brood produce fewer queen cell cups than similar colonies that have brood. Colonies without queens forage much less and collect less pollen than with either a mated or virgin queen. Colonies with virgin queens forage as much as those with mated queens but collected less pollen.     

Odor discrimination in classical conditioning of proboscis extension in two stingless bee species in comparison to Africanized honeybees

Learning in insects has been extensively studied using different experimental approaches. One of them, the proboscis extension response (PER) paradigm, is particularly well suited for quantitative studies of cognitive abilities of honeybees under controlled conditions. The goal of this study was to analyze the capability of three eusocial bee species to be olfactory conditioned in the PER paradigm. We worked with two Brazilian stingless bees species, Melipona quadrifasciata and Scaptotrigona aff. depilis, and with the invasive Africanized honeybee, Apis mellifera. These three species present very different recruitment strategies, which could be related with different odor-learning abilities. We evaluated their gustatory responsiveness and learning capability to discriminate floral odors. Gustatory responsiveness was similar for the three species, although S. aff. depilis workers showed fluctuations along the experimental period. Results for the learning assays revealed that M. quadrifasciata workers can be conditioned to discriminate floral odors in a classical differential conditioning protocol and that this discrimination is maintained 15 min after training. During conditioning, Africanized honeybees presented the highest discrimination, for M. quadrifasciata it was intermediate, and S. aff. depilis bees presented no discrimination. The differences found are discussed considering the putative different learning abilities and procedure effect for each species.     

Foreign ant queens are accepted but produce fewer offspring

Understanding social evolution requires us to understand the processes regulating the number of breeders within social groups and how they partition reproduction. Queens in polygynous (multiple queens per colony) ants often seek adoption in established colonies instead of founding a new colony independently. This mode of dispersal leads to potential conflicts, as kin selection theory predicts that resident workers should favour nestmate queens over foreign queens. Here we compared the survival of foreign and resident queens as well as their relative reproductive share. We used the ant Formica exsecta to construct colonies consisting of one queen with workers related to this resident queen and introduced a foreign queen. We found that the survival of foreign queens did not differ from that of resident queens over a period of 136 days. However, the genetic analyses revealed that resident queens produced a 1.5-fold higher number of offspring than introduced queens, and had an equal or higher share in 80% of the colonies. These data indicate that some discrimination can occur against dispersing individuals and that dispersal can thus have costs in terms of direct reproduction for dispersing queens.     

小毛足鼠繁殖生态研究

１９９１￣１９９５年每年４￣１０月的各月中旬,在内蒙古伊克昭盟达拉特旗沙地草场上,不同生态环境中共布放１０１８４５个夹日,捕获鼠６３２５只,其中小毛足鼠（Ｐｈｏｄｏｐｕｓ ｒｏｂｏｒｏｖｓｋｉｉ）２２１７只,占３５．０５％。根据胴体重划分成４个年龄组,５年总的性比为４９．６１％,接近１：１,无季节差异。雄性繁殖期为９个月（２￣１０月）,有年间差异。雌性繁殖力随着年龄的增长而增高,亚成年组、成年Ⅰ组     

Straight forward to the queen: pursuing honeybee drones (Apis mellifera L.) adjust their body axis to the direction of the queen

At a natural drone congregation area freeflying drones were attracted by a fast-moving queen dummy and the pursuits of drones were stereoscopically recorded (Fig. 1). The reconstruction of 192 flight paths from successfully approaching drones in chronological three dimensional sequences (Fig. 4) lead to the following results: 1. The alignment of the drone's longitudinal body axis coincides fairly well with the line connecting drone and queen (drone-queen-axis), its mean angular deviation from this line being only 14°. Angles between -5° and 5° occur most frequently (Fig. 5B). Thus, drones head straight to the queen. 2. Lateral deviations from the drone-queen-axis most frequently lie between — 30° and 30° (Fig. 5A) which corresponds to the drone's binocular visual field. 3. The drone's heading was continuously adjusted to the actual target, mean turning speed being 1890°/s. 4. The results lead to the conclusion that honeybee drones choose the shortest way to a fast and not predictably moving mate. A comparison with earlier observations suggests that a drone's mating success depends not only on his skills to win a race but also on his persistence within a group.     

Nrf2基因敲除小鼠的繁育及生长发育的生物学特性

目的了解ICR-Nrf2小鼠的生物学特性。方法用原种繁殖扩群,观察繁殖性能及仔鼠的生长发育。结果ICR-Nrf2--/-与ICR-Nrf2-＋/＋比,总的产仔数与离乳数减少（P〈0.01或P〈0.05）;体重在出生后第3周时差异有显著性（P〈0.01）,第5周至第25周时同性别间差异非常显著（P〈0.01）。结论Nrf2基因缺失小鼠的产仔数、离乳数均少于野生型小鼠,仔鼠的生长速度也较野生型小鼠慢。     

Queen pheromones affecting the production of queen-like secretion in workers

The honeybee queen pheromones promote both worker sterility and worker-like pheromone composition; in their absence workers become fertile and express the queen pheromones. Which of the queen pheromones regulate worker pheromone expression and how, is still elusive. Here we investigated how two queen pheromones, the mandibular and Dufour’s, singly or combined, affect worker ovarian activation and occurrence of queen-like Dufour’s esters. Although queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) alone, or combined with Dufour’s secretion, inhibited to some extent worker reproduction, neither was as effective as the queen. The effect of the queen pheromones on worker pheromone expression was limited to workers with developed ovaries. Here too, QMP and Dufour’s combined had the greatest inhibitory effect. In contrast, treatment with Dufour’s alone resulted in augmentation of esters in the workers. This is another demonstration that a pheromone emitted by one individual affects the rates of its production in another individual. Ester production was tightly coupled to ovarian development. However fertile workers from queenright or QMP-treated colonies had significantly higher amounts of esters in their Dufour’s gland than untreated queenless colonies. The fact that the queen or QMP exert greater suppression on signal production than on ovary activation, suggests disparate regulatory pathways, and presents a challenging ultimate as well as proximate questions.     

Detection of chronic bee paralysis virus and acute bee paralysis virus in Uruguayan honeybees

Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) causes a disease characterized by trembling, flightless, and crawling bees, while Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) is commonly detected in apparently healthy colonies, usually associated to Varroa destructor. Both viruses had been detected in most regions of the world, except in South America. In this work, we detected CBPV and ABPV in samples of Uruguayan honeybees by RT-PCR. The detection of both viruses in different provinces and the fact that most of the analyzed samples were infected, suggest that, they are widely spread in the region. This is the first record of the presence of CBPV and ABPV in Uruguay and South America.     

Population demography of Australian feral bees (Apis mellifera)

Honey-bees are widespread as feral animals in Australia. Their impact on Australian ecosystems is difficult to assess, but may include competition with native fauna for floral resources or nesting sites, or inadequate or inappropriate pollination of native flora. In this 3-year study we examined the demography of the feral bee population in the riparian woodland of Wyperfeld National Park in north-west Victoria. The population is very large but varied considerably in size (50–150 colonies/km²) during the study period (1992–1995). The expected colony lifespan for an established colony is 6.6 years, that for a founder colony (new swarm), 2.7 years. The population is expected to be stable if each colony produces 0.75 swarms per year, which is less than the number predicted on the basis of other studies (2–3 swarms/colony per year). Therefore, the population has considerable capacity for increase. Most colony deaths occurred in the summer, possibly due to high temperatures and lack of water. Colonies showed considerable spatial aggregation, agreeing with earlier findings. When all colonies were eradicated from two 5-ha sites, the average rate of re-occupation was 15 colonies/km² per year. Ten swarms of commercial origin were released and were found to have similar survival rates to founder colonies. However, the feral population is self-sustaining, and does not require immigration from the domestic population. Received: 2 September 1996 / Accepted: 26 March 1997     

Polymorphic microsatellite loci in Allodapine bees for investigating the evolution of social behaviour

Allodapine bees provide extraordinary systems for investigating the evolution of cooperation and particularly the division of reproduction in animal societies. We present the first microsatellite primers for two native Australian species (Exoneura nigrescens and E. robusta; Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae) which allow the accurate determination of pedigrees, reproductive skew and relatedness in colonies. Up to 55 different alleles were observed per locus.     

子午沙鼠种群繁殖特征分析

子午沙鼠（Ｍｅｒｉｏｎｅｓｍｅｒｉｄｉａｎｕｓ）是我国西北各省（区）荒漠草原的代表鼠种和优势鼠种。本文将１９９１～１９９６年在库布齐沙漠东段该鼠的繁殖调查资料报道如下。１材料与方法１１调查基点概况调查基点设在内蒙古伊克昭盟达拉特旗境内的中国农业科学...