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Jaclyn Amanda Smith - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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repeated origins of Social Parasitism in allodapine bees indicate that the weak form of emery s rule is widespread yet sympatric speciation remains highly problematic
Biological Journal of The Linnean Society, 2013Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Luke B. Chenoweth, Simon M. Tierney, Michael SchwarzAbstract:The evolutionary origins of Social Parasitism are very unevenly distributed among ants, bees and wasps, but Social parasite lineages are frequently close relatives of their host lineages. Two explanations for these relationships have been proposed: (1) initially, Social species are more likely to become parasitic on relatively closely related Social species, because they share life history, physiological and behavioural traits that allow successful integration within the host colony; and (2) Social parasites have evolved directly from their host lineage via sympatric speciation. Comparative approaches, covering multiple origins and intermediate evolutionary stages, are needed to determine which of these possibilities is more likely. We use molecular phylogenetics to examine multiple origins of Parasitism in the bee tribe Allodapini. We identify seven origins resulting in obligate Social Parasitism (inquilinism), one origin of facultative Social Parasitism, which was followed by subsequent speciation and where both daughter species remained facultatively parasitic, and one case of frequent facultative heterospecific co-nesting that probably represents incipient Social Parasitism. All host–parasite lineage pairs show strong phylogenetic affinities, but only the case of facultative heterospecific nesting involves true sister species relationships. Our results are consistent with the range of parasitic relationships that are expected under an allopatric model for the origin of Social Parasitism, but are highly problematic for a sympatric speciation model. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109, 320–331.
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Repeated origins of Social Parasitism in allodapine bees indicate that the weak form of Emery’s rule is widespread, yet sympatric speciation remains highly problematic
Biological Journal of The Linnean Society, 2013Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Luke B. Chenoweth, Simon M. Tierney, Michael SchwarzAbstract:The evolutionary origins of Social Parasitism are very unevenly distributed among ants, bees and wasps, but Social parasite lineages are frequently close relatives of their host lineages. Two explanations for these relationships have been proposed: (1) initially, Social species are more likely to become parasitic on relatively closely related Social species, because they share life history, physiological and behavioural traits that allow successful integration within the host colony; and (2) Social parasites have evolved directly from their host lineage via sympatric speciation. Comparative approaches, covering multiple origins and intermediate evolutionary stages, are needed to determine which of these possibilities is more likely. We use molecular phylogenetics to examine multiple origins of Parasitism in the bee tribe Allodapini. We identify seven origins resulting in obligate Social Parasitism (inquilinism), one origin of facultative Social Parasitism, which was followed by subsequent speciation and where both daughter species remained facultatively parasitic, and one case of frequent facultative heterospecific co-nesting that probably represents incipient Social Parasitism. All host–parasite lineage pairs show strong phylogenetic affinities, but only the case of facultative heterospecific nesting involves true sister species relationships. Our results are consistent with the range of parasitic relationships that are expected under an allopatric model for the origin of Social Parasitism, but are highly problematic for a sympatric speciation model. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109, 320–331.
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New species and unexpected diversity of Socially parasitic bees in the genus Inquilina Michener (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apidae)
Insect Science, 2009Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Michael SchwarzAbstract:Abstract Allodapine bees present particular problems for taxonomy due to a high level of morphological conservatism in adults, even between genera. However, this tribe of bees also presents a unique opportunity to explore the evolution of Social Parasitism because of the comparatively large number of origins of Socially parasitic species. Morphological differences presented here, along with DNA sequence data and molecular phylogenetic analyses, indicate a much larger number of Australian Social parasite species in the genus Inquilina than previously anticipated, and suggest that the final number of Socially parasitic species may be considerable. We describe five new species and present sequence data that will help elucidate the delineation of further new species. Inquilina provides a unique opportunity to study the evolution of Social Parasitism in Social insects, but further studies will need to encompass both population genetic and phylogenetic approaches.
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phylogenetics of allodapine bees a review of Social evolution Parasitism and biogeography
Apidologie, 2008Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Luke B. Chenoweth, Simon M. Tierney, Michael SchwarzAbstract:It has been assumed that allodapine bees represent early stages in the evolution of Social behaviour. Early studies suggested that Sociality evolved from solitary forms, and that the solitary to Social transition coincided with a transition from mass to progressive provisioning of brood. Recent studies challenge both of these assumptions, they suggest that: (i) Macrogalea replaces Halterapis + Compsomelissa as the sister group to all other genera; (ii) Sociality is plesiomorphic for the tribe; and based on extended Halterapis research, (iii) there are no strictly solitary allodapine species and, therefore, no reversals to solitary living. Penalised likelihood dating of Bayesian inferred phylograms show allodapine lineages have an origin older than 40 Mya. The early origin of Sociality in this tribe may explain the diverse array of Social organization (and Social Parasitism) found in species across a range of clades, and the age of the group raises curious biogeographic scenarios.
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origins of Social Parasitism the importance of divergence ages in phylogenetic studies
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2007Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Simon M. Tierney, Yung Chul Park, Susan Fuller, Michael SchwarzAbstract:Phylogenetic studies on insect Social parasites have found very close host-parasite relationships, and these have often been interpreted as providing evidence for sympatric speciation. However, such phylogenetic inferences are problematic because events occurring after the origin of Parasitism, such as extinction, host switching and subsequent speciation, or an incomplete sampling of taxa, could all confound the interpretation of phylogenetic relationships. Using a tribe of bees where Social Parasitism has repeatedly evolved over a wide time-scale, we show the problems associated with phylogenetic inference of sympatric speciation. Host-parasite relationships of more ancient species appear to support sympatric speciation, whereas in a case where Parasitism has evolved very recently, sympatric speciation can be ruled out. However, in this latter case, a single extinction event would have lead to relationships that support sympatric speciation, indicating the importance of considering divergence ages when analysing the modes of Social parasite evolution.
Michael Schwarz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Small effective population sizes of bee Social parasites compared to their hosts raise important questions for evolutionary arms race
Journal of Zoology, 2016Co-Authors: N. Shokri Bousjein, Michael G. Gardner, Michael SchwarzAbstract:Social Parasitism in insects has raised major questions in evolutionary biology, firstly in terms of adaptations that parasites use to circumvent host defenses and, secondly, in terms of whether Social parasites have arisen via allopatric or sympatric speciation. Here, we raise a third and major evolutionary issue: a priori considerations suggest that Social parasites have much smaller effective population sizes (Ne) than their hosts, and should therefore have much slower rates of evolution than their hosts. The evolutionary arms race should therefore be weighted in favor of host species, raising the question of how Social parasites have been able to persist over evolutionary time? Very few studies, however, have actually estimated the relative sizes of Ne for Social insects and their Social parasites, and therefore the dimensions of unequal host–parasite evolutionary rates are unknown. Here, we use extensive samples of allodapine bee host species and their inquilines from two localities over multiple years to gage their relative Nes. We show that inquiline species have Nes that are about an order of magnitude lower than their hosts, so explaining the evolutionary persistence of Social Parasitism poses a major puzzle for evolutionary biology. We propose several hypotheses that may be able to address this puzzle and discuss how they could be evaluated.
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repeated origins of Social Parasitism in allodapine bees indicate that the weak form of emery s rule is widespread yet sympatric speciation remains highly problematic
Biological Journal of The Linnean Society, 2013Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Luke B. Chenoweth, Simon M. Tierney, Michael SchwarzAbstract:The evolutionary origins of Social Parasitism are very unevenly distributed among ants, bees and wasps, but Social parasite lineages are frequently close relatives of their host lineages. Two explanations for these relationships have been proposed: (1) initially, Social species are more likely to become parasitic on relatively closely related Social species, because they share life history, physiological and behavioural traits that allow successful integration within the host colony; and (2) Social parasites have evolved directly from their host lineage via sympatric speciation. Comparative approaches, covering multiple origins and intermediate evolutionary stages, are needed to determine which of these possibilities is more likely. We use molecular phylogenetics to examine multiple origins of Parasitism in the bee tribe Allodapini. We identify seven origins resulting in obligate Social Parasitism (inquilinism), one origin of facultative Social Parasitism, which was followed by subsequent speciation and where both daughter species remained facultatively parasitic, and one case of frequent facultative heterospecific co-nesting that probably represents incipient Social Parasitism. All host–parasite lineage pairs show strong phylogenetic affinities, but only the case of facultative heterospecific nesting involves true sister species relationships. Our results are consistent with the range of parasitic relationships that are expected under an allopatric model for the origin of Social Parasitism, but are highly problematic for a sympatric speciation model. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109, 320–331.
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Repeated origins of Social Parasitism in allodapine bees indicate that the weak form of Emery’s rule is widespread, yet sympatric speciation remains highly problematic
Biological Journal of The Linnean Society, 2013Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Luke B. Chenoweth, Simon M. Tierney, Michael SchwarzAbstract:The evolutionary origins of Social Parasitism are very unevenly distributed among ants, bees and wasps, but Social parasite lineages are frequently close relatives of their host lineages. Two explanations for these relationships have been proposed: (1) initially, Social species are more likely to become parasitic on relatively closely related Social species, because they share life history, physiological and behavioural traits that allow successful integration within the host colony; and (2) Social parasites have evolved directly from their host lineage via sympatric speciation. Comparative approaches, covering multiple origins and intermediate evolutionary stages, are needed to determine which of these possibilities is more likely. We use molecular phylogenetics to examine multiple origins of Parasitism in the bee tribe Allodapini. We identify seven origins resulting in obligate Social Parasitism (inquilinism), one origin of facultative Social Parasitism, which was followed by subsequent speciation and where both daughter species remained facultatively parasitic, and one case of frequent facultative heterospecific co-nesting that probably represents incipient Social Parasitism. All host–parasite lineage pairs show strong phylogenetic affinities, but only the case of facultative heterospecific nesting involves true sister species relationships. Our results are consistent with the range of parasitic relationships that are expected under an allopatric model for the origin of Social Parasitism, but are highly problematic for a sympatric speciation model. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109, 320–331.
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New species and unexpected diversity of Socially parasitic bees in the genus Inquilina Michener (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apidae)
Insect Science, 2009Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Michael SchwarzAbstract:Abstract Allodapine bees present particular problems for taxonomy due to a high level of morphological conservatism in adults, even between genera. However, this tribe of bees also presents a unique opportunity to explore the evolution of Social Parasitism because of the comparatively large number of origins of Socially parasitic species. Morphological differences presented here, along with DNA sequence data and molecular phylogenetic analyses, indicate a much larger number of Australian Social parasite species in the genus Inquilina than previously anticipated, and suggest that the final number of Socially parasitic species may be considerable. We describe five new species and present sequence data that will help elucidate the delineation of further new species. Inquilina provides a unique opportunity to study the evolution of Social Parasitism in Social insects, but further studies will need to encompass both population genetic and phylogenetic approaches.
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phylogenetics of allodapine bees a review of Social evolution Parasitism and biogeography
Apidologie, 2008Co-Authors: Jaclyn Amanda Smith, Luke B. Chenoweth, Simon M. Tierney, Michael SchwarzAbstract:It has been assumed that allodapine bees represent early stages in the evolution of Social behaviour. Early studies suggested that Sociality evolved from solitary forms, and that the solitary to Social transition coincided with a transition from mass to progressive provisioning of brood. Recent studies challenge both of these assumptions, they suggest that: (i) Macrogalea replaces Halterapis + Compsomelissa as the sister group to all other genera; (ii) Sociality is plesiomorphic for the tribe; and based on extended Halterapis research, (iii) there are no strictly solitary allodapine species and, therefore, no reversals to solitary living. Penalised likelihood dating of Bayesian inferred phylograms show allodapine lineages have an origin older than 40 Mya. The early origin of Sociality in this tribe may explain the diverse array of Social organization (and Social Parasitism) found in species across a range of clades, and the age of the group raises curious biogeographic scenarios.
Peter J Neumann - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Short-sighted evolution of virulence in parasitic honeybee workers (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.).
Naturwissenschaften, 2008Co-Authors: Robin F A Moritz, Christian Walter Werner Pirk, H. Randall Hepburn, Peter J NeumannAbstract:The short-sighted selection hypothesis for parasite virulence predicts that winners of within-host competition are poorer at transmission to new hosts. Social Parasitism by self-replicating, female-producing workers occurs in the Cape honeybee Apis mellifera capensis, and colonies of other honeybee subspecies are susceptible hosts. We found high within-host virulence but low transmission rates in a clone of Social parasitic A. m. capensis workers invading the neighbouring subspecies A. m. scutellata. In contrast, parasitic workers from the endemic range of A. m. capensis showed low within-host virulence but high transmission rates. This suggests a short-sighted selection scenario for the host–parasite co-evolution in the invasive range of the Cape honeybee, probably facilitated by beekeeping-assisted parasite transmission in apiaries.
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Pheromonal dominance and the selection of a Socially parasitic honeybee worker lineage (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.)
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2007Co-Authors: Vincent Dietemann, Stephan Hartel, Peter J Neumann, Christian Walter Werner Pirk, Robin M CreweAbstract:The recent invasion by self-replicating Socially parasitic Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, of colonies of the neighbouring African subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata represents an opportunity to study evolution of intraspecific Parasitism in real time. As honeybee workers compete pheromonally for reproductive dominance, and as A. m. capensis workers readily produce queen-like pheromones, we hypothesized that these semiochemicals promoted the evolution of intraspecific Social Parasitism. Remarkably, the offspring of a single worker became established as a parasite in A. m. scutellata's range. This could have resulted from extreme selection among different clonal parasitic worker lineages. Using pheromonal contest experiments, we show that the selected parasitic lineage dominates in the production of mandibular gland pheromones over all other competitors to which it is exposed. Our results suggest that mandibular gland pheromones played a key role in the evolution of intraspecific Social Parasitism in the honeybee and in the selection of a single genotype of parasitic workers.
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Social Parasitism by honeybee workers apis mellifera capensis esch evidence for pheromonal resistance to host queen s signals
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2006Co-Authors: Vincent Dietemann, Stephan Hartel, Peter J Neumann, Jochen Pflugfelder, Robin M CreweAbstract:Social parasites exploit their host’s communication system to usurp resources and reproduce. In the honeybee, Apis mellifera, worker reproduction is regulated by pheromones produced by the queen and the brood. Workers usually reproduce when the queen is removed and young brood is absent. However, Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, are facultative intraspecific Social parasites and can take over reproduction from the host queen. Investigating the manner in which parasitic workers compete with host queens pheromonally can help us to understand how such Parasitism can evolve and how reproductive division of labour is regulated. In A. m. capensis, worker reproduction is associated with the production of queen-like pheromones. Using pheromonal contest experiments, we show that Apis mellifera scutellata queens do not prevent the production of queen-like mandibular gland compounds by the parasites. Given the importance of these pheromones in acquiring reproductive status, our data suggest that the single invasive lineage of parasitic workers occurring in the range of A. m. scutellata was selected for its superior ability to produce these signals despite the presence of a queen. Such resistance was indeed less frequent amongst other potentially parasitic lineages. Resistance to reproductive regulation by host queens is probably the key factor that facilitates the evolution of Social Parasitism by A. m. capensis workers. It constitutes a mechanism that allows workers to evade reproductive division of labour and to follow an alternative reproductive option by acquiring direct fitness in foreign colonies instead of inclusive fitness in their natal nests.
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Social Parasitism by cape honeybee workers in colonies of their own subspecies apis mellifera capensis esch
Insectes Sociaux, 2006Co-Authors: Stephan Hartel, Peter J Neumann, F S Raassen, Robin F A Moritz, H R HepburnAbstract:Social Parasitism is widespread in the euSocial insects. Although Social parasites often show a reduced worker caste, unmated workers can also parasitize colonies. Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, can establish themselves as Social parasites in host colonies of other honeybee subspecies. However, it is unknown whether Social Parasitism by laying workers also occurs among Cape honeybee colonies. In order to address this question we genotyped worker offspring of six queenless A. m. capensis colonies and determined the maternity of the reproducing workers. We found that three non-nestmate workers dominated reproduction in a host colony and produced 62.5% of the progeny. Our results show that Social Parasitism by laying workers is a naturally occurring part of the biology of Cape honeybees. However, such Social Parasitism is not frequently found (6.41% of the total worker offspring) probably due to co-evolutionary processes among A. m. capensis resulting in an equilibrium between selection for reproductive dominance in workers, colony maintenance and queen adaptation.
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the behaviour of drifted cape honeybee workers apis mellifera capensis predisposition for Social Parasitism
Apidologie, 2003Co-Authors: Peter J Neumann, Sarah E Radloff, Christian Walter Werner Pirk, Randall HepburnAbstract:Cape honeybee workers are facultative Social parasites and drifting is one mode of transmission to new host colonies. The behavioural patterns and spatial distributions of drifted Cape honeybee workers differed from those of non-drifted workers of the same age cohort. Drifted workers were significantly more idle and were more often found in areas away from the queen compared to non-drifted workers. Our data suggest that drifted Cape honeybee workers may be predisposed for Social Parasitism in host colonies. Apis mellifera capensis / drifting / honeybee / Social Parasitism / worker reproduction
Robin F A Moritz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The transcriptomic changes associated with the development of Social Parasitism in the honeybee Apis mellifera capensis.
Die Naturwissenschaften, 2018Co-Authors: Denise Aumer, Christian Walter Werner Pirk, Fiona N Mumoki, Robin F A MoritzAbstract:Social insects are characterized by the division of labor. Queens usually dominate reproduction, whereas workers fulfill non-reproductive age-dependent tasks to maintain the colony. Although workers are typically sterile, they can activate their ovaries to produce their own offspring. In the extreme, worker reproduction can turn into Social Parasitism as in Apis mellifera capensis. These intraspecific parasites occupy a host colony, kill the resident queen, and take over the reproductive monopoly. Because they exhibit a queenlike behavior and are also treated like queens by the fellow workers, they are so-called pseudoqueens. Here, we compare the development of parasitic pseudoqueens and Social workers at different time points using fat body transcriptome data. Two complementary analysis methods-a principal component analysis and a time course analysis-led to the identification of a core set of genes involved in the transition from a Social worker into a highly fecund parasitic pseudoqueen. Comparing our results on pseudoqueens with gene expression data of honeybee queens revealed many similarities. In addition, there was a set of specific transcriptomic changes in the parasitic pseudoqueens that differed from both, queens and Social workers, which may be typical for the development of the Social Parasitism in A. m. capensis.
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the transcriptomic changes associated with the development of Social Parasitism in the honeybee apis mellifera capensis
The Science of Nature, 2018Co-Authors: Denise Aumer, Robin F A Moritz, Christian Walter Werner Pirk, Fiona N MumokiAbstract:Supplementary material: Online Resource 1 (XLSX 15 kb) Online Resource 2 (XLSX 13 kb) Online Resource 3 (PDF 268 kb) Online Resource 4 (XLSX 14 kb) Online Resource 5 (XLSX 29 kb)
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Social Parasitism of queens and workers in the cape honeybee apis mellifera capensis
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2011Co-Authors: Robin F A Moritz, Michael H G Lattorff, Kendall L Crous, Randall HepburnAbstract:Workers of a queenless honeybee colony can requeen the colony by raising a new queen from a young worker brood laid by the old queen. If this process fails, the colony becomes hopelessly queenless and workers activate their ovaries to lay eggs themselves. Laying Cape honeybee workers (Apis mellifera capensis) produce female offspring as an additional pathway for requeening. We tested the frequency of successful requeening in ten hopelessly queenless colonies. DNA genotyping revealed that only 8% of all queens reared in hopelessly queenless colonies were the offspring of native laying worker offspring. The vast majority of queens resulted from parasitic takeovers by foreign queens (27%) and invading parasitic workers (19%). This shows that hopelessly queenless colonies typically die due to parasitic takeovers and that the parasitic laying workers are an important life history strategy more frequently used than in providing a native queen to rescue the colony. Parasitism by foreign queens, which might enter colonies alone or accompanied by only a small worker force is much more frequent than previously considered and constitutes an additional life history strategy in Cape honeybees.
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Short-sighted evolution of virulence in parasitic honeybee workers (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.).
Naturwissenschaften, 2008Co-Authors: Robin F A Moritz, Christian Walter Werner Pirk, H. Randall Hepburn, Peter J NeumannAbstract:The short-sighted selection hypothesis for parasite virulence predicts that winners of within-host competition are poorer at transmission to new hosts. Social Parasitism by self-replicating, female-producing workers occurs in the Cape honeybee Apis mellifera capensis, and colonies of other honeybee subspecies are susceptible hosts. We found high within-host virulence but low transmission rates in a clone of Social parasitic A. m. capensis workers invading the neighbouring subspecies A. m. scutellata. In contrast, parasitic workers from the endemic range of A. m. capensis showed low within-host virulence but high transmission rates. This suggests a short-sighted selection scenario for the host–parasite co-evolution in the invasive range of the Cape honeybee, probably facilitated by beekeeping-assisted parasite transmission in apiaries.
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Social Parasitism by cape honeybee workers in colonies of their own subspecies apis mellifera capensis esch
Insectes Sociaux, 2006Co-Authors: Stephan Hartel, Peter J Neumann, F S Raassen, Robin F A Moritz, H R HepburnAbstract:Social Parasitism is widespread in the euSocial insects. Although Social parasites often show a reduced worker caste, unmated workers can also parasitize colonies. Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, can establish themselves as Social parasites in host colonies of other honeybee subspecies. However, it is unknown whether Social Parasitism by laying workers also occurs among Cape honeybee colonies. In order to address this question we genotyped worker offspring of six queenless A. m. capensis colonies and determined the maternity of the reproducing workers. We found that three non-nestmate workers dominated reproduction in a host colony and produced 62.5% of the progeny. Our results show that Social Parasitism by laying workers is a naturally occurring part of the biology of Cape honeybees. However, such Social Parasitism is not frequently found (6.41% of the total worker offspring) probably due to co-evolutionary processes among A. m. capensis resulting in an equilibrium between selection for reproductive dominance in workers, colony maintenance and queen adaptation.
Randall Hepburn - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Social Parasitism of queens and workers in the cape honeybee apis mellifera capensis
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2011Co-Authors: Robin F A Moritz, Michael H G Lattorff, Kendall L Crous, Randall HepburnAbstract:Workers of a queenless honeybee colony can requeen the colony by raising a new queen from a young worker brood laid by the old queen. If this process fails, the colony becomes hopelessly queenless and workers activate their ovaries to lay eggs themselves. Laying Cape honeybee workers (Apis mellifera capensis) produce female offspring as an additional pathway for requeening. We tested the frequency of successful requeening in ten hopelessly queenless colonies. DNA genotyping revealed that only 8% of all queens reared in hopelessly queenless colonies were the offspring of native laying worker offspring. The vast majority of queens resulted from parasitic takeovers by foreign queens (27%) and invading parasitic workers (19%). This shows that hopelessly queenless colonies typically die due to parasitic takeovers and that the parasitic laying workers are an important life history strategy more frequently used than in providing a native queen to rescue the colony. Parasitism by foreign queens, which might enter colonies alone or accompanied by only a small worker force is much more frequent than previously considered and constitutes an additional life history strategy in Cape honeybees.
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pheromonal predisposition to Social Parasitism in the honeybee apis mellifera capensis
Behavioral Ecology, 2010Co-Authors: Randall Hepburn, Huoqing Zheng, Vincent Dietemann, Robin M Crewe, Fuliang Hu, Mingxian Yang, Christian Walter Werner PirkAbstract:In honeybees, worker reproduction is mainly regulated by pheromones produced by the brood and the queen. The source of one of the queen pheromones influencing worker reproduction has been located in the mandibular glands. In nonlaying workers, this gland's profile is dominated by fatty acids that are incorporated into the food given to the brood and to nest mates. After queen loss and onset of reproductive activity, workers are able to synthesize different fatty acids, which are normally only produced by queens and that contribute to their reproductive success. Apis mellifera capensis workers have the ability to rapidly produce queen-like mandibular profiles that could represent an important factor in their ability to behave as facultative intraspecific Social parasites. Indeed, A. m. capensis workers can take over reproduction from the host queens in colonies of other subspecies. Here, we show that in the presence of their own queen, the mandibular gland profile of A. m. capensis workers is dominated by the precursor of the major compound of the queen pheromone. This is a unique trait among honeybee workers and suggests that A. m. capensis workers are primed for reproduction and that this phenomenon represents a pheromonal predisposition to Social Parasitism. We identified geographical variation in the ratio of queen- to worker-specific compounds in the mandibular gland profile of A. m. capensis workers, which corresponds with the introgression with the neighboring subspecies A. m. scutellata. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.
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the behaviour of drifted cape honeybee workers apis mellifera capensis predisposition for Social Parasitism
Apidologie, 2003Co-Authors: Peter J Neumann, Sarah E Radloff, Christian Walter Werner Pirk, Randall HepburnAbstract:Cape honeybee workers are facultative Social parasites and drifting is one mode of transmission to new host colonies. The behavioural patterns and spatial distributions of drifted Cape honeybee workers differed from those of non-drifted workers of the same age cohort. Drifted workers were significantly more idle and were more often found in areas away from the queen compared to non-drifted workers. Our data suggest that drifted Cape honeybee workers may be predisposed for Social Parasitism in host colonies. Apis mellifera capensis / drifting / honeybee / Social Parasitism / worker reproduction
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behavioural basis for Social Parasitism of cape honeybees apis mellifera capensis
Apidologie, 2002Co-Authors: Peter J Neumann, Randall HepburnAbstract:Cape honeybee workers show important pre-adaptations for Social Parasitism and can cause the dwindling colony syndrome of host colonies. Parasitic workers may drift or actively dis- perse into host colonies. They may also join absconding swarms, which can merge with host colonies. After transmission, parasitic workers have to establish themselves in the host, which is probably pro- moted by their spatial distribution, their readiness to gain trophallactic dominance and their ability to survive worker-worker aggression. Established parasitic workers have to evade egg removal by other workers in host colonies. The resulting offspring is preferentially fed, can be expected to be highly virulent and may show different behaviour in the course of infestation. It is unknown why and how the host queen is lost. High numbers of parasitic workers are reared until the host colony dies or absconds. This offspring can infest new host colonies, thereby completing the Social parasitic life cycle. Apis mellifera capensis / Apis mellifera scutellata / honeybee / Social Parasitism / worker repro- duction
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Social Parasitism by honeybee workers apis mellifera capensis escholtz host finding and resistance of hybrid host colonies
Behavioral Ecology, 2001Co-Authors: Peter J Neumann, Robin F A Moritz, Sarah E Radloff, Randall Hepburn, Sacha L ReeceAbstract:We studied possible host finding and resistance mechanisms of host colonies in the context of Social Parasitism by Cape honeybee (Apis mellifera capensis) workers. Workers often join neighboring colonies by drifting, but long-range drifting (dispersal) to colonies far away from the maternal nests also rarely occurs. We tested the impact of queenstate and taxon of mother and host colonies on drifting and dispersing of workers and on the hosting of these workers in A. m. capensis, A. m. scutellata, and their natural hybrids. Workers were paint-marked according to colony and reintroduced into their queenright or queenless mother colonies. After 10 days, 579 out of 12,034 labeled workers were recaptured in foreign colonies. We found that drifting and dispersing represent different behaviors, which were differently affected by taxon and queenstate of both mother and host colonies. Hybrid workers drifted more often than A. m. capensis and A. m. scutellata. However, A. m. capensis workers dispersed more often than A. m. scutellata and the hybrids combined, and A. m. scutellata workers also dispersed more frequently than the hybrids. Dispersers from queenright A. m. capensis colonies were more often found in queenless host colonies and vice versa, indicating active host searching and/or a queenstate-discriminating guarding mechanism. Our data show that A. m. capensis workers disperse significantly more often than other races of A. mellifera, suggesting that dispersing represents a host finding mechanism. The lack of dispersal in hybrids and different hosting mechanisms of foreign workers by hybrid colonies may also be responsible for the stability of the natural hybrid zone between A. m. capensis and A. m. scutellata. Key words: Apis mellifera capensis, Apis mellifera scutellata, honeybee, host finding, hybrids, Social Parasitism. [Behav Ecol 12:419–428 (2001)]