Regulation of worker reproduction in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris): workers eavesdrop on a queen signal
Regulation of worker reproduction in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris): workers eavesdrop on a queen signal
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DOI：
10.1007/s00265-006-0184-2
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发表时间：
2006-07-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Hefetz, Abraham
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Alaux, Cedric;Jaisson, Pierre;Hefetz, Abraham
在一年一次的熊蜂熊蜂terrestris，发病的蜂王，工人的冲突，男性生产的季节性和社会约束。如果工蚁在确定幼虫致力于雌核发育之后，但在季节结束之前开始繁殖（所谓的竞争阶段），它们会做得更好，因为它们通过养育雌姐妹而不是自己的儿子获得更多。在这里，我们测试了两个不相互排斥的假设是什么触发工人生殖的发病：工人可以直接监测幼虫的发展和/或工人窃听女王的信号，指导妇科发展。暴露工人的雌蕊幼虫通过一个双重的网格没有提前的竞争阶段相比，控制殖民地。然而，当工人，而不是女王，被允许与雌虫幼虫接触，竞争阶段和雌虫生产的先进。因此，虽然幼虫不会释放挥发性信息素来揭示其发育路线，但工蜂与这些幼虫的身体接触会引发早期竞争阶段。然而，完全暴露于工蜂幼虫的工蜂（被阻止产生雌蜂幼虫的蜂群）与对照蜂群同时开始繁殖。用一个年长的女王（来自雌鸟饲养的殖民地）取代常驻女王，使竞争阶段提前，与工人年龄无关。这一结果与工蜂窃听蜂后信息素的假说一致。这是适应性的，因为它允许工人更广泛的时间窗口繁殖，从而获得健康的饲养姐妹雌和儿子在季节结束前，而不影响殖民地的发展。
In the annual bumblebee Bombus terrestris, the onset of queen-worker conflict over male production is seasonally and socially constrained. Workers will do better if they start to reproduce (the so-called competition phase) only after ascertaining that larvae are committed to gyne development but before the season ends because they gain more by rearing sister-gynes than their own sons. Here, we tested two nonmutually exclusive hypotheses as to what triggers the onset of worker reproduction: Workers can directly monitor larval development and/or workers eavesdrop on the queen signal that directs gyne development. Exposing workers to gyne larvae through a double mesh did not advance the competition phase compared to control colonies. However, when workers, but not the queen, were allowed contact with gyne larvae, both the competition phase and gyne production were advanced. Thus, while larvae do not emit a volatile pheromone that discloses their developmental route, the physical contact of workers with such larvae triggers early competition phase. However, workers exclusively exposed to worker larvae (colonies prevented from producing gyne larvae) started to reproduce at the same time as control colonies. Replacing the resident queen with an older queen (from gyne-rearing colonies) advanced the competition phase, irrespective of worker age. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that workers eavesdrop on the queen pheromones. This is adaptive because it allows workers a broader time-window for reproduction and thus to gain fitness from rearing both sister-gynes and sons before the season ends without affecting colony development.