Promiscuous honeybee queens generate colonies with a critical minority of waggle-dancing foragers

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Volumn 64, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 875-889

  Mattila, Heather R ^a,b   Seeley, Thomas D ^a  

^a Department of Obstetrics Gynecology   (United States)

^b WELLESLEY COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

Intracolonial genetic diversity; Polyandry; Recruitment signaling; Response thresholds; Task allocation; Waggle dance communication

Indexed keywords

COLONY; FITNESS; FOOD SUPPLY; FORAGING BEHAVIOR; GENETIC VARIATION; HONEYBEE; KINSHIP; POLYANDRY; QUEEN; RECRUITMENT (POPULATION DYNAMICS); SIGNALING; WORKER CASTE;

APIS MELLIFERA; HYMENOPTERA;

EID: 77950544207     PISSN: 03405443     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-0904-5     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. Arnold G, Quenet B, Papin C, Masson C, Kirchner WH (2002) Intra-colonial variability in the dance communication in honeybees (Apis mellifera). Ethology 108: 751-761.
2. Beshers SN, Fewell JH (2001) Models of division of labor in social insects. Annu Rev Entomol 46: 413-440.
3. Bonabeau E, Theraulaz G, Deneubourg JL (1998) Fixed response thresholds and the regulation of division of labor in insect societies. B Math Biol 60: 753-807.
4. Boomsma JJ, Fjerdingstad EJ, Frydenberg J (1999) Multiple paternity, relatedness and genetic diversity in Acromyrmex leaf-cutter ants. Proc R Soc London B 266: 249-254.
5. Cole BJ, Wiernasz DC (1999) The selective advantage of low relatedness. Science 285: 891-893.
6. Denny AJ, Franks NR, Powell S, Edwards KJ (2004) Exceptionally high levels of multiple mating in an army ant. Naturwiss 91: 396-399.
7. Fjerdingstad EJ, Boomsma JJ (2000) Queen mating frequency and relatedness in young Atta sexdens colonies. Insectes Soc 47: 354-356.
8. Fjerdingstad EF, Boomsma JJ, Thoren P (1998) Multiple paternity in the leafcutter ant Atta colombica, a microsatellite DNA study. Heredity 80: 118-126.
9. Gadau J, Strehl CP, Oettler J, Hölldobler B (2003) Determinants of intracolonial relatedness in Pogonomyrmex rugosus (Hymenoptera; Formicidae): mating frequency and brood raids. Mol Ecol 12: 1931-1938.
10. Gardner KE, Seeley TD, Calderone NW (2008) Do honeybees have two discrete dances to advertise food sources? Anim Behav 75: 1291-1300.
11. Goodisman MAD, Kovacs JL, Hoffman EA (2007) The significance of multiple mating in the social wasp Vespula maculifrons. Evolution 61: 2260-2267.
12. Hamilton WD (1964) The genetical evolution of social behaviour I and II. J Theor Biol 7(1-16): 17-52.
13. Hughes WOH, Boomsma JJ (2004) Genetic diversity and disease resistance in leaf-cutting ant societies. Evolution 58: 1251-1260.
14. Hughes WOH, Oldroyd BP, Beekman M, Ratnieks FLW (2008) Ancestral monogamy shows kin selection is key to the evolution of eusociality. Science 320: 1213-1216.
15. Jeanson R, Fewell JH, Gorelick R (2007) Emergence of increased division of labor as a function of group size. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62: 289-298.
16. Jones JC, Myerscough MR, Graham S, Oldroyd BP (2004) Honey bee nest thermoregulation: diversity promotes stability. Science 305: 402-404.
17. Kronauer DJC, Schöning C, Pedersen JS, Boomsma JJ, Gadau J (2004) Extreme queen-mating frequency and colony fission in African army ants. Mol Ecol 13: 2381-2388.
18. Kronauer DJC, Johnson RA, Boomsma JJ (2007) The evolution of multiple mating in army ants. Evolution 61: 413-422.
19. Mailleux AC, Deneubourg JL, Detrain C (2000) How do ants assess food volume? Anim Behav 59: 1061-1069.
20. Mattila HR, Seeley TD (2007) Genetic diversity in honey bee colonies enhances productivity and fitness. Science 317: 362-364.
21. Mattila HR, Burke KM, Seeley TD (2008) Genetic diversity within honeybee colonies increases signal production by waggle-dancing foragers. Proc R Soc London B 275: 809-816.
22. O'Donnell S, Foster RL (2001) Thresholds of response in nest thermoregulation by worker bumble bees, Bombus bifarius nearcticus (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Ethology 107: 387-399.
23. Oldroyd BP, Fewell JH (2007) Genetic diversity promotes homeostasis in insect societies. Trends Ecol Evol 22: 408-413.
24. Page RE, Erber J, Fondrk MK (1998) The effect of genotype on response thresholds to sucrose and foraging behavior of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). J Comp Physiol A 182: 489-500.
25. Pol RG, Lopez de Casenave J, Feldhaar H, Milesi FA, Gadau J (2008) Polyandry in two South American harvester ants. Insectes Soc 55: 91-97.
26. Rheindt FE, Gadau J, Strehl CP, Hölldobler B (2004) Extremely high mating frequency in the Florida harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex badius). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 56: 472-481.
27. Robinson GE, Page RE (1989) Genetic basis for division of labor in an insect society. In: Breed MD, Page RE (eds) The genetics of social evolution. Westview, Boulder, pp 61-68.
28. Ross KG (1986) Kin selection and the problem of sperm utilization in social insects. Nature 323: 798-800.
29. Seeley TD (1995) The wisdom of the hive. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
30. Seeley TD, Tarpy DR (2007) Queen promiscuity lowers disease within honeybee colonies. Proc R Soc London B 274: 67-72.
31. Solignac M, Vautrin D, Loiseau A, Mougel F, Baudry E, Estoup A, Garnery L, Haberl M, Cornuet JM (2003) Five hundred and fifty microsatellite markers for the study of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) genome. Mol Ecol Notes 3: 307-311.
32. Strassmann J (2001) The rarity of multiple mating by females in the social Hymenoptera. Insectes Soc 48: 1-13.
33. Tarpy DR, Nielsen DI (2002) Sampling error, effective paternity, and estimating the genetic structure of honey bee colonies (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 95: 513-528.
34. Tarpy DR, Page RE (2002) Sex determination and the evolution of polyandry in honey bees (Apis mellifera). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 52: 143-150.
35. Tarpy DR, Nielsen R, Nielsen DI (2004) A scientific note on the revised estimates of effective paternity frequency in Apis. Insectes Soc 51: 203-204.
36. Timmermans I, Hefetz A, Fournier D, Aron S (2008) Population genetic structure, worker reproduction and thelytokous parthenogenesis in the desert ant Cataglyphis sabulosa. Heredity 101: 490-498.
37. van Wilgenburg E, Driessen G, Beukeboom LW (2006) Single locus complementary sex determination in Hymenoptera: an "unintelligent" design? Front Zool 3: 1-15.
38. Waibel M, Floreano D, Magnenat S, Keller L (2006) Division of labour and colony efficiency in social insects: effects of interactions between genetic architecture, colony kin structure and rate of perturbations. Proc R Soc London B 273: 1815-1823.
39. Weidenmüller A (2003) The control of nest climate in bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) colonies: interindividual variability and self reinforcement in fanning response. Behav Ecol 15: 120-128.
40. Wiernasz DC, Perroni CL, Cole BJ (2004) Polyandry and fitness in the western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. Mol Ecol 13: 1601-1606.
41. Wiernasz DC, Hines J, Parker DG, Cole BJ (2008) Mating for variety increases foraging activity in the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. Mol Ecol 17: 1137-1144.
42. Wilson EO (1971) The insect societies. Belknap, Cambridge.