Worker size in honeybees and its relationship with season and foraging distance

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_2368A5A57CEC
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Worker size in honeybees and its relationship with season and foraging distance
Journal
Apidologie
Author(s)
Sauthier R., l'Anson Price R., Gruter C.
ISSN
1297-9678
ISSN-L
0044-8435
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2017
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
48
Number
2
Pages
234-246
Language
english
Abstract
Workers in many eusocial insect species show considerable size variation within a colony. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) vary little in size compared to other eusocial bee species, but there is evidence for a link between worker size and behaviour. In this study, we investigated how size variation and the average size of honeybee foragers change during a foraging season. We also tested the influence of colony weight and swarming on worker size. Finally, by analysing waggle dances, we tested if forager size is linked to foraging distance, between and within colonies. We found that the size of foragers significantly increases over the foraging season. Swarming did not appear to affect worker size, but colony size was overall positively linked to wing length and leg width. However, we did not find a relationship between foraging distance and forager size. We discuss how the constant size of brood cells and an efficient communication between foragers could lead to a narrower size range.
Keywords
Apis mellifera carnica, average worker size, body size variation, foragers
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
19/04/2017 7:50
Last modification date
20/08/2019 13:01
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