Reproductive potential accelerates preimaginal development of rebel workers in Apis mellifera

Abstrakt

Rebel workers develop from eggs laid by the previous queen, before it went swarming and left the colony orphaned, until the emergence of a new queen. In contrast to normal workers developing in the queen’s presence, rebels are set to reproduce and avoid rearing of successive bee generations. They have more ovarioles in their ovaries, as well as more developed mandibular glands and underdeveloped hypopharyngeal glands, just like the queen. We posited that rebels are not only similar to queens in some anatomical features, but also develop in a shorter time in comparison to normal workers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare preimaginal development duration in rebel and normal workers. The results show that rebels, i.e., workers with a higher reproductive potential, had a significantly shorter preimaginal development period (mean ± SD, 19.24 ± 0.07 days) than normal workers (22.29 ± 0.32 days). Our result confirmed that workers who develop in a queen-less colony undergo a shorter preimaginal development than those in a queen-right colony.

Autorzy

Karolina Kuszewska
Karolina Kuszewska
Michał Woyciechowski
Michał Woyciechowski
artykuł
Animals
Angielski
2021
11
11
3245
otwarte czasopismo
CC BY 4.0 Uznanie autorstwa 4.0
ostateczna wersja opublikowana
w momencie opublikowania
2021-11-13
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