Diploid males of Scaptotrigona depilis are able to join reproductive aggregations (Apidae, Meliponini)

By

Vollet-Neto, Ayrton
Fernando dos Santos, Charles
Rodrigues Santiago, Leandro
De Araujo Alves, Denise
De Figueiredo, Júlia Pinheiro
Nanzer, Marino
Arias, Maria Cristina
Imperatriz-Fonseca, Vera Lúcia

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2015-9-7

Original Publication

Journal of Hymenoptera research

Volume

45

Pages

125--130

Subjects

diploid male load , inbreeding , population viability , stingless bees

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Washington, D.C International Society of Hymenopterists

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/JHR.45.4769

 

Abstract

The sex determination system in the eusocial stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini) is based on the combination of alleles at the complementary sex determination (CSD) locus. In this system, males are haploid and females are diploid. However, diploid males can develop from fertilized eggs when they are homozygous at single or multiple sex loci. The production of such males can negatively affect population viability, since they are usually infertile or inviable. Moreover, when they are viable but infertile, or siring sterile triploid offspring, this could cause another load on the population, leading the fertilized offspring of other females to be only haploid males or triploid sterile daughters. In this context, our aim was to verify whether diploid males of the stingless beeScaptotrigonadepilisdo in fact join reproductive aggregations. We showed that of 360 marked males from two different colonies, five were participating in a reproductive aggregationca.20 meters from their natal colonies. Using microsatellites markers, it was confirmed that three of these five males were diploid. They were captured in the mating aggregations when they were 15 to 20 days old. Further research is necessary to determine the mating success of stingless bee diploid males under natural conditions and to determine their impact on stingless bee population extinction risks.