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The composition of larval food in stingless bees: Evaluating nutritional balance by Chemosystematic methods

Zusammensetzung des Larvenfutters bei Stachellosen Bienen: Bewertung der Ausgewogenheit an Nährstoffen mittels chemosystematischer Methoden

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Summary

Nutritional balance of larval food supposedly plays an important role in honey bee caste formation. Whether this is similar in stingless bees was an open question. We analysed the major water-soluble constituents in the larval food of 7 species of meliponids. The data were used to evaluate the hypothesis that a balanced composition of larval food is shaped by selection. Chemosystematic trees were calculated and compared to a published phylogenetic tree based on morphological characters. A considerable degree of congruence between the chemosystematic trees for the general composition of larval food and the phylogenetic tree allowed us to discuss the composition of larval food in highly eusocial bees in relation to functional aspects of larval nutrition.

Zusammenfassung

Die ausgewogene Zusammensetzung des Larvenfutters wird allgemein als ein wichtiger Faktor in der Kastenbildung der Honigbiene angesehen. Ob dies für Stachellose Bienen in ähnlicher Weise gilt, war eine offene Frage. Wir analysierten die wasserlöslichen Hauptkomponenten im Larvenfutter von 7 Meliponinen-Arten. Die Ergebnisse wurden herangezogen, um die Hypothese zu überprüfen, daß eine ausgewogene Zusammensetzung des Larvenfutters der Selektion unterliegt. Dazu wurden chemosystematische Bäume berechnet und mit einem bereits publizierten, strukturell-morphologisch begründeten Stammbaum verglichen. Ein beträchtlicher Grad an Kongruenz zwischen den chemosystematischen Bäumen für die allgemeine Zusammensetzung des Larvenfutters und dem Stammbaum erlaubte es, die Zusammensetzung des Larvenfutters hoch-eusozialer Bienen in Bezug auf die funktionalen Aspekte der Larvenernährung zu diskutieren.

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  1. Lehrstuhl Entwicklungsphysiologie, Zoologisches Institut der Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, D-7400, Tübingen

    K. Hartfelder & W. Engels

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  1. K. Hartfelder
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  2. W. Engels
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Hartfelder, K., Engels, W. The composition of larval food in stingless bees: Evaluating nutritional balance by Chemosystematic methods. Ins. Soc 36, 1–14 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02225876

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02225876

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