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Sex determination in bees. XXVI. Masculinism of workers in the apidae

Warwick Estevam Kerr^I; Rubens A. da Cunha^II

We dedicate this publication to Dr. Harry H. Laidlaw and to Dr. Walter C. Rothenbuhler in honor of their invaluable contribution to the science of Genetics
^IDepartamento de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, 38400 Uberlândia, MG, Brasil. Send correspondence to W.E.K.
^IIDepartamento de Estatística, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, 13500 Rio Claro, SP, Brasil

ABSTRACT

The methodology of Sokal and the computational system of Rohlf were used on 3096 measurements of 72 Bombus atratus and 1935 measurements of 45 Scaptotrigona postica. The analysis revealed that workers of both species are more similar externally to their respective males than to their queens. It is suggested that evolution of the worker and queen caste in the social Apidae followed a series of steps: 1) workers and queens morphologically similar to one another and very different from males; 2) some females lay more eggs than other, but are morphologically very different from males; 3A) specialization and more efficient use of food by queens (as in Apis) and specialization of workers; 3B) increasing role of Juvenile Hormone in queens and diminution of it in workers, making workers (due to gene regulation) more and more similar to haploid males (as in Bombus atratus and in all meliponids).

Keywords: Sex determination; Bees; Masculinism of workers.

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