Free Access
Issue
Apidologie
Volume 26, Number 3, 1995
Non-Apis bees
Page(s) 163 - 180
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:19950301
Apidologie 26 (1995) 163-180
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19950301

Are there pheromonal dominance signals in the bumblebee Bombus hypnorum L (Hymenoptera, Apidae)?

M. Ayassea, T. Marlovitsa, J. Tengöb, T. Taghizadehc and W. Franckec

a  Institute of Zoology, Dept of Evolutionary Biology, Althanstr 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
b  Ecological Research Station of Uppsala University, S-38600 Färjestaden, Sweden
c  Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6, D-20146 Hamburg 13, Germany

Abstract - In the bumblebee Bombus hypnorum (Apidae) 132 chemical compounds could be identified by GC/MS and coinjection. The behavior of individual workers was observed to characterize them as dominant, subordinate or foragers. Queens, dominance groups of workers and newly emerged workers showed significant differences in both the amounts and proportions of volatiles, in the status of the ovaries, in the size of the fat body, and in the body size.


Key words: bumblebee / Bombus hypnorum / dominance / volatile bouquets / chemical analysis