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- Title
Fratricide in Megachile rotundata, a non-social megachilid bee: impartial treatment of sibs and non-sibs.
- Authors
Tepedino, V. J.; Frohlich, D. R.
- Abstract
Experiments simulating spring emergence and partial second generation emergence of the alfalfa leafcutting bee were conducted to determine if emerging bees distinguish full sibs from non-kin and the conditions under which fratricide occurs. Using glass tubes and different incubation treatments, bees were forced to emerge behind sibs or non-sibs whose development had been delayed by 4 or 17 days. Under these conditions, emerging bees had three choices: (1)to destroy their nest mate to exit the tube; (2) to circumvent their nest mate to exit; and (3)to return to their own cells and await the emergence of their nest mate. Emerging bees made no distinction between sibs and nonsibs: non-sibs were not destroyed more often than sibs. This suggests that nest mates are routinely treated as sibs. The emergence behavior of bees was governed by the developmental stage of their nest mates: when development of nest mates was delayed by 4 days, emerging bees most often returned to their cells and waited. Conversely, when development of nest mates was delayed by 17 days, emerging bees either destroyed or circumvented them. Due to their small size, males circumvented nest mates more often than females did. Thus, emerging bees avoided killing their nest mates, except in situations where suicide was the only other option. These results seem consistent with models predicting the conditions under which extreme selfish behavior and kin recognition will occur.
- Subjects
ALFALFA leafcutting bee; EGG incubation; FRATRICIDE; NESTS; BEES; CELLS
- Publication
Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology, 1984, Vol 15, Issue 1, p19
- ISSN
0340-5443
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/BF00310210