Sneaky queens in Melipona bees selectively detect and infiltrate queenless colonies

Autor(es)

Van Oystaeyen, Annette ^[1] ; Alves, Denise Araujo ^[2] ; Oliveira, Ricardo Caliari ^[1] ; do Nascimento, Daniela Lima ^[2] ; do Nascimento, Fabio Santos ^[2] ; Billen, Johan ^[1] ; Wenseleers, Tom ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Katholieke Univ Leuven, Inst Zool, Lab Socioecol & Social Evolut, B-3000 Louvain - Belgium

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Dept Biol, Lab Ecol & Comportamento Insetos Sociais, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR; v. 86, n. 3, p. 603-609, SEP 2013.
• Citações Web of Science: 9

Resumo

Insect societies are characterized by advanced cooperation, but at the same time the complexity of their colonies renders them susceptible to reproductive parasitism. Recently, a genetic study on the Brazilian stingless bee Melipona scutellaris showed that unrelated queens frequently invade and take over colonies in which the mother queen had died. In the present study, we investigated this phenomenon using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. We confirmed that alien queen take-overs are common within this species, and demonstrated that mated queens actively seek out colonies without a queen to reproduce in. Furthermore, we found that queens only penetrate their target colonies in the evening, when guarding efficiency is significantly reduced. We hypothesize that this strategy reduces the chance of the queens being attacked by entrance guards, thus maximizing their chance of successful infiltration. (C) 2013 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/19717-4 - Parasitismo social intraespecífico como estratégia reprodutiva em abelhas sem ferrão (Apidae, Meliponini)
• Beneficiário: Denise de Araujo Alves
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 11/21084-2 - Estudo comportamental do parasitismo social de rainhas no gênero Melipona usando etiquetas de rádio frequência
• Beneficiário: Denise de Araujo Alves
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Pesquisador Visitante - Internacional
• 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