Temporal genetic structure of a drone congregation area of the giant Asian honeybee (Apis dorsata)

The giant Asian honeybee (Apis dorsata), like all other members of the genus Apis, has a complex mating system in which the queens and males (drones) mate at spatially defined drone congregation areas (DCAs). Here, we studied the temporal genetic structure of a DCA of A. dorsata over an 8-day time window by the genotyping of sampled drones with microsatellite markers. Analysis of the genotypic data revealed a significant genetic differentiation between 3 sampling days and indicated that the DCA was used by at least two subpopulations at all days in varying proportions. The estimation of the number of colonies which used the DCA ranged between 20 and 40 colonies per subpopulation, depending on the estimation procedure and population. The overall effective population size was estimated as high as N _e=140. The DCA seems to counteract known tendencies of A. dorsata for inbreeding within colony aggregations by facilitating gene flow among subpopulations and increasing the effective population size.     

Nest site selection in the open-nesting honeybee Apis florea

We studied nest site selection by swarms of the red dwarf honeybee, Apis florea. By video recording and decoding all dances of four swarms, we were able to determine the direction and distances indicated by 1,239 dances performed by the bees. The bees also performed a total of 715 nondirectional dances; dances that were so brief that no directional information could be extracted. Even though dances converged over time to a smaller number of areas, in none of the swarms did dances converge to one site. As a result, even prior to lift off, bees performed dances indicating nest sites in several different directions. Two of four swarms traveled directly in what seemed to be the general direction indicated by the majority of dances in the half hour prior to swarm lift off. The other two traveled along circuitous routes in the general direction indicated by the dances. We suggest that nest site selection in A. florea has similar elements to nest site selection in the better-studied Apis mellifera. However, the observation that many more locations are indicated by dances prior to lift off also shows that there are fundamental differences between the two species.     

草莓蚜虫防治用药对蜜蜂的急性毒性与风险评价

为明确草莓蚜虫防治用药对蜜蜂的影响,按照《化学农药环境安全评价试验准则》和《化学品测试方法》要求测定了20%啶虫脒SP、10%氟啶虫酰胺WG和22%氟啶虫胺腈SC对意大利蜜蜂(Apis mellifera L.)的急性毒性,并采用危害商值(HQ)法进行了风险评价。急性毒性结果显示:20%啶虫脒SP、10%氟啶虫酰胺WG和22%氟啶虫胺腈SC对蜜蜂的急性经口毒性试验结果(48 h-LD50值)分别为4.47μg a.i.·蜂~(-1)、11.2μg a.i.·蜂~(-1)和0.0601μg a.i.·蜂~(-1),对蜜蜂的急性接触毒性试验结果(48 hLD50值)分别为11.0μg a.i.·蜂~(-1)、13.9μg a.i.·蜂~(-1)和0.643μg a.i.·蜂~(-1)。按《化学农药环境安全评价试验准则》中毒性等级划分标准,20%啶虫脒SP、10%氟啶虫酰胺WG和22%氟啶虫胺腈SC对蜜蜂的毒性等级分别为中毒、低毒和高毒。风险评价结果表明,22%氟啶虫胺腈SC对蜜蜂存在中等风险(HQ值为1 622),20%啶虫脒SP和10%氟啶虫酰胺WG对蜜蜂的风险为低风险,其HQ值分别为40.3和6.70。因此,草莓生产中可优先选用10%氟啶虫酰胺WG来防治蚜虫,20%啶虫脒SP次之。而使用22%氟啶虫胺腈SC时,应注意采取措施降低其对蜜蜂的毒性风险,以免造成危害。     

新烟碱类杀虫剂呋虫胺对意大利蜜蜂的安全性评价

呋虫胺作为新一代烟碱类农药,究竟会给蜜蜂造成何种影响尚不清楚。本研究选取意大利蜜蜂为研究对象,分别测定呋虫胺对蜜蜂的急性毒性、慢性毒性以及幼虫发育毒性,并通过其危害商值(hazard quotient,HQ)初步评价呋虫胺对蜜蜂的生态风险,综合评价呋虫胺对蜜蜂的安全性。结果表明,急性经口毒性48 h半数致死剂量(48 h-LD50)为0.033μg·蜂-1,对蜜蜂高毒;慢性毒性10 d半数致死剂量(10 d-LDD50)为0.010μg·蜂-1,慢性毒作用带比值为3.5,存在慢性中毒的风险;幼虫7 d半数致死剂量为577 ng·幼虫-1,高剂量呋虫胺对蜜蜂幼虫存活率、化蛹率和羽化率均存在影响,处理剂量越高,存活率、化蛹率和羽化率越低,呈高度负相关(r=-0.98,-0.89,-0.80)。风险评价结果表明,呋虫胺对蜜蜂为中等风险到高风险。研究可为呋虫胺的合理使用提供科学参考。     

Physiological correlates of genetic variation for rate of behavioral development in the honeybee, Apis mellifera

Two factors that influence age at onset of foraging in honeybees are juvenile hormone (JH) and colony age demography (older bees inhibit behavioral development of younger bees). We tested the hypothesis that genetic variation among bees for these factors influences genetic variation in behavioral development. Pairs of colonies showing genetic differences in rates of behavioral development were identified in a screening experiment and bees from these colonies were used for physiological and behavioral assays. Six pairs were assayed, three with European bees only and three with both European and Africanized bees. There was genetic variation for the following four components: (1) production of JH in four pairs (experiment 1); (2) sensitivity to JH in three pairs (experiment 2); (3) sensitivity to social inhibition in three pairs (experiment 3), and (4) potency of social inhibition in four pairs (experiment 4). Cross-fostering assays (experiment 5), which allowed all four components to be evaluated simultaneously, revealed genetic variation for production of JH, sensitivity to JH, or sensitivity to social inhibition in five of six pairs, and potency of social inhibition in five of six pairs. There was often evidence for genotypic differences in more than one component, and no consistent pattern of association among any of the components. Africanized bees had faster rates of behavioral development than European bees, but there were no racial differences in patterns of variation among the four components. These results indicate that there are at least several, apparently distinct, physiological processes associated with JH and colony age demography upon which natural selection can act to alter the rate of behavioral development in honeybees. Received: 8 December 1998 / Received in revised form: 29 July 1999 / Accepted: 8 August 1999