title: Resisting majesty: Apis cerana, has lower antennal sensitivity and decreased attraction to queen mandibular pheromone than Apis mellifera.
abstract: In highly social bees, queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) is vital for colony life. Both Apis cerana (Ac) and Apis mellifera (Am) share an evolutionarily conserved set of QMP compounds: (E)-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid (9-ODA), (E)-9-hydroxydec-2-enoic acid (9-HDA), (E)-10-hydroxy-dec-2-enoic acid (10-HDA), 10-hydroxy-decanoic acid (10-HDAA), and methyl p-hydroxybenzoate (HOB) found at similar levels. However, evidence suggests there may be species-specific sensitivity differences to QMP compounds because Ac workers have higher levels of ovarian activation than Am workers. Using electroantennograms, we found species-specific sensitivity differences for a blend of the major QMP compounds and three individual compounds (9-HDA, 10-HDAA, and 10-HDA). As predicted, Am was more sensitive than Ac in all cases (1.3- to 2.7- fold higher responses). There were also species differences in worker retinue attraction to three compounds (9-HDA, HOB, and 10-HDA). In all significantly different cases, Am workers were 4.5- to 6.2-fold more strongly attracted than Ac workers were. Thus, Ac workers responded less strongly to QMP than Am workers, and 9-HDA and 10-HDA consistently elicited stronger antennal and retinue formation responses [corrected].
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.|Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Shihao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.|Eastern Bee Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nieh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008334:Mandible / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010053:Ovary / Q000502:physiology; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: C515368:9-oxodecenoic acid; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D012724:Sex Attractants