Department of Ecology, University of Lüneburg, Germany.
J Chem Ecol. 2011 Oct;37(10):1117-26. doi: 10.1007/s10886-011-0016-3. Epub 2011 Sep 23.
Colonies of the stingless bee Tetragonilla collina frequently occur in unusually high densities and in direct neighborhood (nest aggregations), in rainforests of Southeast Asia. To investigate whether close relatedness and/or similar chemical profiles facilitate the co-occurrence of multiple T. collina colonies, we investigated aggressive behavior, genetic relatedness and cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles within and between colonies and nest aggregations. Although 17 out of 19 colonies within aggregations were largely unrelated, intraspecific aggression between different colonies was basically absent both within and among aggregations. This lack of aggression should favor social parasitism and hence the occurrence of unrelated individuals within a colony. However, low within-colony relatedness was found in only five out of 19 colonies where it may be explained by queen turnover or the occurrence of foreign workers. CHC profiles of colonies within and among aggregations were statistically different. However, many workers could chemically not be assigned to their maternal colony, indicating considerable overlap among colonies in odor profiles of workers. Moreover, odor profiles tended to be more similar within than among aggregations, although most colonies were unrelated. Thus, CHC profiles were a poor indicator of relatedness in T. collina. The lack of correlation between relatedness and chemical similarity in T. collina may be explained by the incorporation of resin-derived terpenes in their CHC profiles. The composition of these terpenes was highly similar among colonies, particularly within aggregations, hence potentially decreasing chemical distinctiveness and increasing behavioral tolerance.
无刺蜜蜂 Tetragonilla collina 的殖民地经常以异常高的密度和直接相邻（巢群聚集）的方式出现在东南亚的热带雨林中。为了研究密切的亲缘关系和/或相似的化学特征是否有助于多个 T. collina 殖民地的共存，我们调查了殖民地内和殖民地之间的攻击性行为、遗传亲缘关系和表皮碳氢化合物 (CHC) 特征。尽管巢群中 19 个殖民地中有 17 个在很大程度上没有亲缘关系，但在巢群内和巢群之间不同殖民地之间的种内攻击性基本上不存在。这种缺乏攻击性应该有利于社会寄生，因此在一个殖民地中会出现无关的个体。然而，只有在 19 个殖民地中的 5 个中发现了低的种内亲缘关系，这可以用蜂王更替或外来工蜂的出现来解释。巢群内和巢群之间的 CHC 特征在统计学上是不同的。然而，许多工蜂在化学上无法被分配到它们的母殖民地，这表明在工蜂的气味特征方面，殖民地之间有相当大的重叠。此外，尽管大多数殖民地没有亲缘关系，但气味特征在巢群内比巢群间更相似。因此，CHC 特征是 T. collina 亲缘关系的一个很差的指标。T. collina 中亲缘关系和化学相似性之间缺乏相关性可能是由于其 CHC 特征中包含树脂衍生的萜烯。这些萜烯在殖民地之间的组成非常相似，特别是在巢群内，因此可能会降低化学独特性并增加行为容忍度。
