Intra- and interspecific brood recognition in pure and mixed-species honeybee colonies, Apis cerana and A. mellifera

Tan, K; Yang, M-X; Radloff, Sarah E; Yu, Y; Pirk, C W W; Hepburn, H Randall

Title: Intra- and interspecific brood recognition in pure and mixed-species honeybee colonies, Apis cerana and A. mellifera
Creator: Tan, K
Creator: Yang, M-X
Creator: Radloff, Sarah E
Creator: Yu, Y
Creator: Pirk, C W W
Creator: Hepburn, H Randall
Subject: Apis mellifera Apis cerana
Date Issued: 2009
Date: 2009
Type: text
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6837
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010962
Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/apido/2009003
Description: We studied the effects of mixed honeybee colonies of Apis mellifera and Apis cerana on the intraspecific and interspecific recognition of female brood stages in the honeybees A. cerana and A. mellifera by transferring brood combs between queenright colonies. In the intraspecific tests, significantly more larvae were removed in A. cerana than in A. mellifera, whilst significantly fewer eggs and pupae were removed in A. cerana than in A. mellifera. In the interspecific tests, A. cerana colonies removed significantly more larvae and pupae of A. mellifera than the same brood stages of A. cerana were removed by A. mellifera. We show there are highly significant differences in both intraspecific and interspecific brood recognition between A. cerana and A. mellifera and that brood recognition operates with decreasing intensity with increasing developmental age within species. This suggests that worker policing in egg removal is a first line of defense against heterospecific social parasites.
Format: 8 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: Tan, K. and Yang, Ming-Xian and Radloff, S.E. and Yu, Y. and Pirk, C.W.W. and Hepburn, H.R. (2009) Intra- and interspecific brood recognition in pure and mixed-species honeybee colonies, Apis cerana and A. mellifera. Apidologie, 40 (2). pp. 184-191. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/apido/2009003

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Hepburn, H Randall (Prof Emeritus)

Radloff, Sarah (Prof)

RU Department of Statistics

RU Department of Zoology and Entomology