Effect of mating delay on the ovary of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides (Hymenoptera: Apidae) queens

• Autor(a) principal: Souza, Edmilson Amaral de
• Data de Publicação: 2006
• Outros Autores: Neves, Clóvis Andrade, Campos, Lucio Antonio de Oliveira, Zanuncio, José Cola, Serrão, José Eduardo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: LOCUS Repositório Institucional da UFV
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micron.2006.08.005; http://www.locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/12576
• topic: Ovary degeneration; Virgin queen; Mating Oosorption

The effect of mating delay on the ovary structure of virgin queens of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides (Hymenoptera: Apidae) was investigated. Virgin queens 15, 20, 25 and 30 days old were dissected to analyze their degree of ovary degeneration. To verify whether the degeneration would cause permanent sterility, virgin queens of the same ages (15, 20, 25 and 30 days) were mated and accompanied for at least 14 days to verify whether there was physogastry and then dissected. The ovaries were analyzed by histology, histochemical tests and TUNEL to verify programmed cell death. The results showed that mating delay interrupted oogenesis preventing vitellogenesis. Mating delay results in ovary degeneration which increased with queen age. However, even when there was ovariole degeneration, 25-day-old virgin queens after mating presented normal ovariole activation.