Kin discriminators in the eusocial sweat bee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lasioglossum malachurum</Emphasis>: the reliability of cuticular and Dufour’s gland odours |
| |
Authors: | Antonella Soro Manfred Ayasse Marion U Zobel Robert J Paxton |
| |
Institution: | 1.Animal Physiological Ecology,University of Tübingen,Tübingen,Germany;2.School of Biological Sciences,Queen’s University Belfast,Belfast,UK;3.Institute of Experimental Ecology,University of Ulm,Ulm,Germany;4.Institute for Biology,Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg,Halle,Germany |
| |
Abstract: | The ability to discriminate degrees of relatedness may be expected to evolve if it allows unreciprocated altruism to be preferentially
directed towards kin (Hamilton in J Theor Biol 7:1–16, 1964). We explored the possibility of kin recognition in the primitively eusocial halictid bee Lasioglossum malachurum by investigating the reliability of worker odour cues that can be perceived by workers to act as indicators of either nest
membership or kinship. Cuticular and Dufour’s gland compounds varied significantly among colonies of L. malachurum, providing the potential for nestmate discrimination. A significant, though weak, negative correlation between chemical distance
and genetic relatedness (r = −0.055, p < 0.001) suggests a genetic component to variation in cuticular bouquet, but odour cues were not informative enough to discriminate
between different degrees of relatedness within nests. This pattern of variation was similar for Dufour’s gland bouquets.
The presence of unrelated individuals within nests that are not chemically different from their nestmates suggests that the
discrimination system of L. malachurum is prone to acceptance errors. Compounds produced by colony members are likely combined to generate a gestalt colony chemical
signature such that all nestmates have a similar smell. The correlation between odour cues and nest membership was greater
for perceived compounds than for non-perceived compounds, suggesting that variability in perceived compounds is a result of
positive selection for nestmate recognition despite potentially stabilising selection to reduce variability in odour differences
and thereby to reduce costs derived from excessive intracolony nepotistic behaviour. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|