Effect of the queen on worker reproduction and new queen production in the bumble bee Bombus terrestris

Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde (1, 2) , Ruth M. Brown (2) , Eric R. Lucas (2, 3) , Jeffrey Pereboom (2, 4) , William C. Jordan (2) , Andrew F.G. Bourke (2, 5)

1 URZF - Unité de recherche Zoologie Forestière
2 Zoological Society of London
3 UCL - University College of London [London]
4 Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp
5 UEA - University of East Anglia [Norwich]

We tested the hypotheses that a non-volati le pheromone inhibiting worker egg-laying and queen development produced by Bombus terrestris queens has effects transferable (a) from workers to other workers or larvae, or (b) on wax. We subdivided small, Young colonies with a single mesh screen (Experiment 1) and larger, older colonies with a double mesh screen (Experiment 2). One treatment (in both experiments) involved the transfer of workers, and one treatment (in Experiment 2 only) involved the transfer of wax, from the queenright to the queenless compartments. Queenlessness induced significantly earlier onset of worker aggression (followed by egg-laying) in all treatments in both experiments, and significantly earlier queen production in all treatments in Experiment 2 (small colony sizes probably hindered queen production in Experiment 1). These findings suggested that. the effects of B. terrestris queen pheromone are not transferable via workers or wax.

Mots clés: Bombus; caste determination; pheromone; queen signal; worker reproduction

Domaines: Zoologie des invertébrés; Biodiversité; Ecologie, Environnement; Science des productions animales

Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde, Ruth M. Brown, Eric R. Lucas, Jeffrey Pereboom, William C. Jordan, et al.. Effect of the queen on worker reproduction and new queen production in the bumble bee Bombus terrestris. Apidologie, 2007, 38 (2), pp.171-180. ⟨10.1051/apido:2006070⟩. ⟨hal-00892247⟩