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Comparative Reproductive Biology of Honeybees

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Honeybees of Asia

Abstract

The complex social structure and male-biased sex ratio of honeybee mating systems are analysed, followed by detailed treatments of panmictic drone congregation areas and species-specific daily mating flight periods. This is followed by an account of queen polyandry and drone monogamy and competition. Mating on the wing is a finely tuned technical tour de force involving initial docking, establishing the internal connection of drone and queen, the deposition and transfer of sperm and, finally, decoupling of the pair and deposition of a mating sign. Subsequent to mating, the problems of the ultimate storage and utilisation of sperm are discussed. Finally, the matter of reproductive isolation is considered.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Bienenkunde (Polytechnische Gesellschaft), Fachbereich Biowissenschaften, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt a.M, Karl-von-Frisch-Weg 2, 61440, Oberursel, Germany

    Gudrun Koeniger & Nikolaus Koeniger

  2. King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Ratchaburi Campus, Bangkok, 10140, Thailand

    Mananya Phiancharoen

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  1. Gudrun Koeniger
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  2. Nikolaus Koeniger
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Correspondence to Gudrun Koeniger .

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  1. , Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    H. Randall Hepburn

  2. , Department of Statistics, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    Sarah E. Radloff

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Koeniger, G., Koeniger, N., Phiancharoen, M. (2011). Comparative Reproductive Biology of Honeybees. In: Hepburn, H., Radloff, S. (eds) Honeybees of Asia. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16422-4_8

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