Title: | Queen and young larval pheromones impact nursing and reproductive physiology of honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers |
Author(s): | Traynor KS; Le Conte Y; Page RE; |
Address: | "School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ USA. INRA, UR 406, Abeilles et Environnement, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon, France" |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00265-014-1811-y |
ISSN/ISBN: | 0340-5443 (Print) 1432-0762 (Electronic) 0340-5443 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Several insect pheromones are multifunctional and have both releaser and primer effects. In honey bees (Apis mellifera), the queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) and e-beta-ocimene (ebeta), emitted by young worker larvae, have such dual effects. There is increasing evidence that these multifunctional pheromones profoundly shape honey bee colony dynamics by influencing cooperative brood care, a fundamental aspect of eusocial insect behavior. Both QMP and ebeta have been shown to affect worker physiology and behavior, but it has not yet been determined if these two key pheromones have interactive effects on hypopharyngeal gland (HPG) development, actively used in caring of larvae, and ovary activation, a component of worker reproductive physiology. Experimental results demonstrate that both QMP and ebeta significantly suppress ovary activation compared to controls but that the larval pheromone is more effective than QMP. The underlying reproductive anatomy (total ovarioles) of workers influenced HPG development and ovary activation, so that worker bees with more ovarioles were less responsive to suppression of ovary activation by QMP. These bees were more likely to develop their HPG and have activated ovaries in the presence of ebeta, providing additional links between nursing and reproductive physiology in support of the reproductive ground plan hypothesis" |
Keywords: | Brood pheromone Honey bee Hypopharyngeal gland Queen mandibular pheromone Reproductive ground plan e-Beta ocimine; |
Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINETraynor, Kirsten S Le Conte, Yves Page, Robert E Jr eng Germany 2014/11/15 Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 2014; 68(12):2059-2073. doi: 10.1007/s00265-014-1811-y. Epub 2014 Sep 25" |