Apidologie 38 (2007) 156-163
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2006066

Africanized and European honey bee worker ovarian follicle development response to racial brood pheromone extracts

Tanya Pankiw^a and Celina Garza<sup>b

a</sup>  Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2475, USA
^b  Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Nuevo León, Mexico

(Received 31 March 2006 - Revised 18 July 2006 - Accepted 9 August 2006 - Published online 10 February 2007)

Abstract - Africanized and European worker honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) ovary follicle development response to Africanized and European larval extracts and synthetic brood pheromone were measured and modeled. Africanized workers had significantly greater baseline development than European workers. Racial extracts did not differentially affect Africanized or European follicle development. Africanized EC₅₀ of brood pheromone for follicle development inhibition was 16 times greater than for European workers. The higher worker reproductive ability of Africanized workers appeared intrinsic and was not explained by the racial blend of pheromone or composition of the adult rearing environment. Higher colony-level reproduction apparently extends to the individual-level in Africanized bees.

Key words: Apis mellifera / brood pheromone / Africanized honey bee / ovary development

Corresponding author: tpankiw@tamu.edu

© INRA, DIB-AGIB, EDP Sciences 2007