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Male production by non-natal workers in the bumblebee, Bombus deuteronymus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

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Abstract

Social insect societies are considered to be composed of many extremely cooperative individuals. While workers are traditionally believed to behave altruistically, recent studies have revealed behaviors that are more selfish. One such example is intraspecific social parasitism, where workers invade conspecific colonies and produce male offspring that are reared by unrelated host workers. Such intraspecific parasitism has been reported in honeybees (Apis cerana, and A. florea) and “semi-wild” bumblebee colonies of Bombus terrestris. Here we report on intraspecific social parasitism by workers in “wild” colonies of the bumblebee B. deuteronymus. Three of the 11 B. deuteronymus colonies studied were invaded by non-natal workers, of which 75% became reproductive and produced 19% of the adult males. The invading non-natal workers produced significantly more males than resident natal workers and the non-natal brood was not discriminated against by the natal workers.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science research fellowship to J.T. and the PRO NATURA 2008 fund for bumblebee conservation. This research was financially supported in part by the Global COE Program A06 to Kyoto University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan

    Jun-ichi Takahashi & Isamu Shimizu

  2. Laboratory of Systematic Entomology, Department of Ecology and Systematics, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8589, Japan

    Jun-ichi Takahashi

  3. Honeybee Science Research Center, Tamagawa University, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan

    Jun-ichi Takahashi & Masao Ono

  4. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    Stephen J. Martin

Authors
  1. Jun-ichi Takahashi
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  2. Stephen J. Martin
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  3. Masao Ono
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  4. Isamu Shimizu
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Correspondence to Jun-ichi Takahashi.

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Takahashi, Ji., Martin, S.J., Ono, M. et al. Male production by non-natal workers in the bumblebee, Bombus deuteronymus (Hymenoptera: Apidae). J Ethol 28, 61–66 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-009-0155-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-009-0155-y

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