Intracolonial genetic diversity increases chemical signaling by waggle-dancing honey bees, Apis mellifera

• Published in: Insectes sociaux 2013, Vol.60 (4), p.485-496
• Main Authors: Carr-Markell, M. K, McDonald, K. M, Mattila, H. R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Apis mellifera; Autoecology; bee dances; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Entomology; Formicidae; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genetic variation; honey bee colonies; Hymenoptera; Life Sciences; males; mating frequency; polyandry; Protozoa. Invertebrata; Research Article; volatile compounds; worker honey bees
• ISSN: 0020-1812; 1420-9098
• DOI: 10.1007/s00040-013-0315-5

Extreme polyandry is a derived mating strategy that is uncommon in the Hymenoptera, but occurs in ecologically dominant taxa such as honey bees, leaf-cutter ants, and army ants. Honey bee queens that mate with many males confer a selective advantage to their colonies in part by generating genetically diverse foraging workforces that are more active than those of colonies with singly mated queens. These foragers produce more waggle-dance signals, each circuit of which attracts larger audiences of dance followers. We investigated the role that dancer-produced volatiles (“waggle-dance compounds”) play in facilitating signal exchange when mating frequency, and thus patriline number, differs. We found a 6- to 200-fold increase in quantities of three of four waggle-dance compounds in the airspace of multiple-patriline versus single-patriline colonies. Possible worker-level mechanisms underlying this difference were investigated by sampling compounds from dancers over similar intervals at the start of dances. The best-supported explanation was the presence of greater quantities of compounds on the abdomens of foragers as dance length increased rather than differences in quantities sampled between colony types or among patrilines. Workers who danced more frequently attracted more followers to the initial circuits of their first dance, but following response was not linked to quantities of compounds on dancers. While honey bee colonies with multiple patrilines have greater quantities of dancer-produced volatiles in them, high concentrations of these chemicals probably do not attract more dance followers to specific dancers. Thus, the role that these compounds may play in enhancing colony productivity requires clarification.