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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Eusocial bee male aggregations: spatially and temporally separated but genetically homogenous

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Author(s):
dos Santos, Charles Fernando [1, 2] ; Francisco, Flavio de Oliveira [3] ; Imperatriz-Fonseca, Vera Lucia [2, 4] ; Arias, Maria Cristina [3]
Total Authors: 4
Affiliation:
[1] Pontificia Univ Catolica Rio Grande do Sul, Fac Biociencias, Dept Biodiversidade & Ecol, Av Ipiranga, BR-6681 Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil
[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Lab Abelhas, Dept Ecol, IB, Rua Matao 321, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
[3] Univ Sao Paulo, IB, Dept Genet & Biol Evolut, Rua Matao 277, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
[4] Inst Vale Tecnol Desenvolvimento Sustentavel, Rua Esperanca Silva 955, BR-66055090 Belem, Para - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 4
Document type: Journal article
Source: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata; v. 158, n. 3, p. 320-326, MAR 2016.
Web of Science Citations: 2
Abstract

Male insects mostly aggregate near sites where sexually reproductive virgin females are found and where mating occur. This reproductive strategy is quite common in Hymenoptera and appears to decrease the chances of inbreeding. In Hymenoptera, inbred mating frequently result in sterile diploid males. Production of diploid males may reach high proportions in small bee populations, and it usually lead to population extinction within a small number of generations. Aggregation of males during a short period of time allow the mixing of local genes. In this paper, we analyzed male aggregations of Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), a eusocial stingless bee, using microsatellite molecular markers. We used population genetic statistics for haplodiploid organisms to address genetic structuring among male aggregations. Our findings indicate that, in general, male aggregations of T.angustula occurring over short time scales and in close proximity are genetically homogeneous as if a single aggregation. We conclude that T.angustula males randomly disperse within a population looking for mating chances rather than settle on a distinct male aggregation. This behavior seems to contribute to the reduction of inbreeding in this species. (AU)