Kraus F B, Neumann P, Scharpenberg H, van Praagh J, Moritz R F A
Institut für Zoologie, Martin Luther Universität Halle/Wittenberg, Halle Saale, Germany.
J Evol Biol. 2003 Sep;16(5):914-20. doi: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00593.x.
Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) have an extreme polyandrous mating system. Worker offspring of 19 naturally mated queens was genotyped with DNA microsatellites, to estimate male reproductive success of 16 drone producing colonies. This allowed for estimating the male mating success on both the colony level and the level of individual drones. The experiment was conducted in a closed population on an isolated island to exclude interferences of drones from unknown colonies. Although all colonies had produced similar numbers of drones, differences among the colonies in male mating success exceeded one order of magnitude. These differences were enhanced by the siring success of individual drones within the offspring of mated queens. The siring success of individual drones was correlated with the mating frequency at the colony level. Thus more successful colonies not only produced drones with a higher chance of mating, but also with a significantly higher proportion of offspring sired than drones from less successful colonies. Although the life cycle of honeybee colonies is very female centred, the male reproductive success appears to be a major driver of natural selection in honeybees.
蜜蜂（西方蜜蜂）具有极端的多雄交配系统。对19只自然交配蜂王的工蜂后代进行DNA微卫星基因分型，以估计16个产生雄蜂的蜂群中雄蜂的繁殖成功率。这使得能够在蜂群水平和个体雄蜂水平上估计雄蜂的交配成功率。该实验在一个孤立岛屿上的封闭种群中进行，以排除来自未知蜂群的雄蜂的干扰。尽管所有蜂群产生的雄蜂数量相似，但蜂群之间雄蜂交配成功率的差异超过了一个数量级。这些差异因交配蜂王后代中个体雄蜂的授精成功率而加剧。个体雄蜂的授精成功率与蜂群水平上的交配频率相关。因此，更成功的蜂群不仅产生交配机会更高的雄蜂，而且其后代由雄蜂授精的比例也显著高于不太成功的蜂群中的雄蜂。尽管蜜蜂蜂群的生命周期以雌性为中心，但雄蜂的繁殖成功率似乎是蜜蜂自然选择的主要驱动力。
