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Regulation of worker reproduction in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris): workers eavesdrop on a queen signal

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Abstract

In the annual bumblebee Bombus terrestris, the onset of queen-worker conflict over male production is seasonally and socially constrained. Workers will do better if they start to reproduce (the so-called competition phase) only after ascertaining that larvae are committed to gyne development but before the season ends because they gain more by rearing sister-gynes than their own sons. Here, we tested two nonmutually exclusive hypotheses as to what triggers the onset of worker reproduction: Workers can directly monitor larval development and/or workers eavesdrop on the queen signal that directs gyne development. Exposing workers to gyne larvae through a double mesh did not advance the competition phase compared to control colonies. However, when workers, but not the queen, were allowed contact with gyne larvae, both the competition phase and gyne production were advanced. Thus, while larvae do not emit a volatile pheromone that discloses their developmental route, the physical contact of workers with such larvae triggers early competition phase. However, workers exclusively exposed to worker larvae (colonies prevented from producing gyne larvae) started to reproduce at the same time as control colonies. Replacing the resident queen with an older queen (from gyne-rearing colonies) advanced the competition phase, irrespective of worker age. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that workers eavesdrop on the queen pheromones. This is adaptive because it allows workers a broader time-window for reproduction and thus to gain fitness from rearing both sister-gynes and sons before the season ends without affecting colony development.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Jean and Marie Louise Dufrenoy grant (Académie d’Agriculture de France) to CA. We are grateful to Paul Devienne for technical assistance and help in bee rearing; to Marie-José Duchateau, two referees, and the Associate Editor Jürgen Heinze for helpful comments on the manuscript; and to Naomi Paz for Editorial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, CNRS UMR 7153, Université Paris 13, Villetaneuse, 93430, France

    Cédric Alaux & Pierre Jaisson

  2. Department of Zoology, GS Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Abraham Hefetz

  3. Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Cédric Alaux

Authors
  1. Cédric Alaux
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  2. Pierre Jaisson
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  3. Abraham Hefetz
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Correspondence to Cédric Alaux.

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Communicated by J. Heinze

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Alaux, C., Jaisson, P. & Hefetz, A. Regulation of worker reproduction in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris): workers eavesdrop on a queen signal. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60, 439–446 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0184-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0184-2

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