Ovarian development related to pollen feeding in workers of the bumblebee Bombus ignitus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Applied Entomology and Zoology volume 54, pages85–89(2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Female bees need to develop their ovaries for oviposition, and it has been considered that the pollen nutrition would be important for ovarian development. However, few studies empirically examined the relationship between pollen intake and ovarian development. In the present study, we investigated the effect of pollen diet on ovarian development of female bees, using workers of Japanese bumblebee, Bombus ignitus (Smith). We reared newly emerged workers in two different diet conditions: (1) both pollen and nectar and (2) nectar only. We dissected the ovaries and ranked their development on day 0, 7 or 14 after emergence. In addition, to clarify whether pollen intake affects the status of ovarian development, we confirmed the presence or absence of pollen in the digestive tract. The stage of ovarian development was affected by treatments and number of days since emergence. The ovaries of workers that fed on pollen and nectar developed more than that fed on nectar only. Moreover, the ovaries of workers with pollen in the digestive tract developed more than those of workers without pollen. Our results demonstrated the importance of pollen feeding for promoting ovarian development of bumblebee workers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the program to Disseminate Tenure Tracking System, University of Tsukuba.

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Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Conservation Ecology, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Chisato S. Tanaka, Mito Ikemoto, Aoi Nikkeshi & Tomoyuki Yokoi

  2. Division of Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services Assessment Unit, Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), 3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604, Japan

    Aoi Nikkeshi

  3. Arysta LifeScience Corporation, 8-1 Akashicho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-6591, Japan

    Yuya Kanbe & Masahiro Mitsuhata

Authors
  1. Chisato S. Tanaka
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  2. Mito Ikemoto
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  3. Aoi Nikkeshi
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  4. Yuya Kanbe
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  5. Masahiro Mitsuhata
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  6. Tomoyuki Yokoi
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Correspondence to Chisato S. Tanaka.

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Tanaka, C.S., Ikemoto, M., Nikkeshi, A. et al. Ovarian development related to pollen feeding in workers of the bumblebee Bombus ignitus (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Appl Entomol Zool 54, 85–89 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13355-018-0597-1

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Keywords

  • Bumblebee
  • Food intake
  • Egg production
  • Nutrition