The Honeybee Queen: The Implications of Eusociality on Parasite-Mediated Competition
2018; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/bs.aiip.2018.07.006
ISSN2213-6800
Autores Tópico(s)Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
ResumoA reliable pollination of crops is provided by integrated crop pollination (ICP). It combines the use of managed and wild pollinators in a location-specific manner. The honeybee is our best known ally and an essential part of ICP. Here we highlight two main aspects of the honeybee's biology and use some anthropomorphism elements to explain our point of view. The first is on social behaviour, the shift from single mating towards a promiscuous lifestyle was essential to develop full eusociality. This also means that some half sisters are stuck in a social framework and raise fertile offspring, while having low kinship with them. Second, a queen develops a large workforce of bees, with a division of labour. Aside from nursing and foraging, also time is allocated towards defence. We question if more assertive strategies are present. We speculate on a workforce carrying parasites, to perform parasite-mediated competition with other, yet solitary, bees. We discuss two mechanisms: (i) where social immunity tempers the effect of a specific parasite in a social bee; (ii) current domestication practises could also facilitate parasite-mediated competition in both directions.
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