Diploid males of Scaptotrigona depilis are able to join reproductive aggregations (Apidae, Meliponini)

Author(s)

Vollet-Neto, Ayrton ^[1] ; dos Santos, Charles Fernando ^[2] ; Santiago, Leandro Rodrigues ^[3] ; Alves, Denise de Araujo ^{[1, 4]} ; de Figueiredo, Julia Pinheiro ^[1] ; Nanzer, Marino ^[1] ; Arias, Maria Cristina ^[3] ; Imperatriz-Fonseca, Vera Lucia ^{[1, 5]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Dept Biol, BR-14049 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Pontificia Univ Catolica Rio Grande do Sul, Dept Biodiversidade & Ecol, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Genet & Biol Evolut, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Escola Super Agr Luiz de Queiroz, Dept Entomol & Acarol, Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[5] Inst Tecnol Vale, Belem, PA - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF HYMENOPTERA RESEARCH; v. 45, p. 125-130, 2015.
• Web of Science Citations: 4

Abstract

The sex determination system in the eusocial stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini) is based on the combination of alleles at the complementary sex determination (CSD) locus. In this system, males are haploid and females are diploid. However, diploid males can develop from fertilized eggs when they are homozygous at single or multiple sex loci. The production of such males can negatively affect population viability, since they are usually infertile or inviable. Moreover, when they are viable but infertile, or siring sterile triploid offspring, this could cause another load on the population, leading the fertilized offspring of other females to be only haploid males or triploid sterile daughters. In this context, our aim was to verify whether diploid males of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona depilis do in fact join reproductive aggregations. We showed that of 360 marked males from two different colonies, five were participating in a reproductive aggregation ca. 20 meters from their natal colonies. Using microsatellites markers, it was confirmed that three of these five males were diploid. They were captured in the mating aggregations when they were 15 to 20 days old. Further research is necessary to determine the mating success of stingless bee diploid males under natural conditions and to determine their impact on stingless bee population extinction risks. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/16716-2 - Do reproductive workers invade conspecific nests of Scaptotrigona depilis (Apidae, Meliponini)?
• Grantee: Julia Pinheiro de Figueiredo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• FAPESP's process: 10/19717-4 - Intraspecific social parasitism as a reproductive strategy in stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini)
• Grantee: Denise de Araujo Alves
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 12/11144-0 - Evolution of mating systems in stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini)
• Grantee: Ayrton Vollet Neto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate