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Related Experiment Video

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Induction and Evaluation of Inbreeding Crosses Using the Ant, Vollenhovia Emeryi

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Cheating honeybee workers produce royal offspring.

Lyndon A Jordan¹, Michael H Allsopp, Benjamin P Oldroyd

¹School of Biological Sciences A12, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences

|December 1, 2007

Summary

Cape bee workers can lay female offspring via thelytokous parthenogenesis, enabling them to compete with queens. Parasitic workers from other colonies frequently produced new queens, with resident queens also capable of asexual reproduction.

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Area of Science:

Reproductive biology
Social insects
Genetics

Background:

The Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis) exhibits unique thelytokous parthenogenesis, where workers produce female offspring.
This reproductive capability allows worker bees to potentially usurp the queen's role in colony reproduction.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the extent to which Cape bee workers compete with queens in producing new queens.
To identify the origins of new queens, distinguishing between those produced by resident workers, parasitic workers, and the queen herself.

Main Methods:

Genetic analysis using microsatellites to determine parentage of new queens.
Examination of seven Cape bee colonies to track queen production.

Main Results:

Worker-produced offspring constituted a significant proportion (23/39) of new queens.
The majority of worker-produced queens originated from parasitic workers from other colonies.
Resident queens also demonstrated asexual reproduction, producing some daughter queens clonally.

Conclusions:

Cape bee workers, particularly parasitic ones, directly compete with queens for reproduction.
Thelytokous parthenogenesis in Cape bee workers facilitates social parasitism and queen usurpation.
Queens possess the ability for asexual reproduction, suggesting a potential for genetic immortality.