Reproductive regulation in an orchid bee: social context, fertility and chemical signalling

Autor(es)

Ribeiro Andrade-Silva, Aline Candida ^[1] ; Nascimento, Fabio Santos ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, FFCLRP, Dept Biol, Lab Comportamento & Ecol Insetos Sociais, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR; v. 106, p. 43-49, AUG 2015.
• Citações Web of Science: 7

Resumo

In social insects, the communication of social status helps individuals evaluate each other's reproductive potential, thus reducing conflict. Queens communicate their status through chemical signals, and the responses of workers to these signals include the suppression of ovarian activation. In most species of primitively social insects, dominant individuals indicate their status through aggressive behaviour, which also inhibits reproduction in workers. In some species, which lack queeneworker dimorphism, chemical signalling may act synergistically with agonistic interactions to establish the division of labour between females. Here, we investigated which mechanisms are involved in reproductive regulation in the orchid bee Euglossa melanotricha. Our long-term observations showed that dominant females monopolized egg laying and were able to recognize the eggs of subordinates. The overt aggression towards subordinates affected the egg-laying behaviour of these females but did not inhibit their ovarian development. We found that dominants maintained their monopoly on reproduction even after their experimental removal. When subordinates were removed, the productivity of the nest was reduced significantly, indicating clear benefits of the division of labour between females. We then analysed the chemical cuticular profile of the females and found that variation in the composition of hydrocarbons reflected the social status of the different individuals. The results of this study suggest that chemical signals evolved as honest signals and that workers restrain themselves from reproducing. This reduces reproductive options but increases selection pressures on the workers to obtain indirect fitness. (C) 2015 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/19490-0 - Estrutura genética e sócio-etológica de Euglossa melanotricha Moure, 1967 (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini) mediada por sinalização química e relações de parentesco intra-colonial
• Beneficiário: Aline Candida Ribeiro Andrade e Silva
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 10/10027-5 - Mediação comportamental, sinalização química e aspectos fisiológicos reguladores da organização social em himenópteros
• Beneficiário: Fábio Santos do Nascimento
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores