Survey of Hatching Spines of Bee Larvae Including Those of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)

This article explores the occurrence of hatching spines among bee taxa and how these structures enable a larva on hatching to extricate itself from the egg chorion. These spines, arranged in a linear sequence along the sides of the first instar just dorsal to the spiracles, have been observed and recorded in certain groups of solitary and cleptoparasitic bee taxa. After eclosion, the first instar remains loosely covered by the egg chorion. The fact that this form of eclosion has been detected in five families (Table 1 identifies four of the families. The fifth family is the Andrenidae for which the presence of hatching spines in the Oxaeinae will soon be announced.) of bees invites speculation as to whether it is a fundamental characteristic of bees, or at least of solitary and some cleptoparasitic bees. The wide occurrence of these spines has prompted the authors to explore and discover their presence in the highly eusocial Apis mellifera L. Hatching spines were indeed discovered on first instar A. mellifera. The honey bee hatching process appears to differ in that the spines are displayed somewhat differently though still along the sides of the body, and the chorion, instead of splitting along the sides of the elongate egg, seems to quickly disintegrate from the emerging first instar in association with the nearly simultaneous removal of the serosa that covers and separates the first instar from the chorion. Unexpected observations of spherical bodies of various sizes perhaps containing dissolving enzymes being discharged from spiracular openings during hatching may shed future light on the process of how A. mellifera effects chorion removal during eclosion. Whereas hatching spines occur among many groups of bees, they appear to be entirely absent in the Nomadinae and parasitic Apinae, an indication of a different eclosion process

Bombus impatiens, Including observations on its egg eclosion.

25 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm.This contribution results from an investigation of four commercially obtained colonies of Bombus (Pyrobombus) impatiens Cresson in an attempt to understand the functional anatomy and behavior of its immature stages. Eggs are described in detail, and their chorionic microstructure is contrasted with that of Bombus (Cullumanobombus) griseocollis (De Geer). They are deposited in groups consisting of a few to more than nine eggs into a single chamber. The study confirms that larvae pass through four instars. Although increasing in size dramatically from one instar to the next, larval anatomy and behavior change little during the first three instars. The last instar is the one that commences defecation and production of silk resulting in cocoon construction. In contrast to most bees, its larval activities result in substantial changes in size and shape of its brood chamber, whereas brood chambers of most bees are constructed by the female and modified little by the offspring. This study is a part of a series of investigations into the similarities and differences in the developmental biologies among corbiculate bees

Bombus griseocollis.

17 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm.This paper describes and illustrates the egg, fifth, first, and fourth larval instars, as well as the female pupa of Bombus (Cullumanobombus) griseocollis (DeGeer), all collected from a single nest in June 2017 in Wisconsin. In so doing, attempts are made to understand the biological significance of the anatomical and behavioral features of these various life stages

Analysis of multipronged spicules (Apoidea, Apidae).

13 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm. Specimens of Tetragonula sapiens collected by Hobart M. van Deusen on 12 May 1964 during the seventh Archbold Expedition to New Guinea.The small (length less than 6 mm) postdefecating larva of Tetragonula (Tetragonula) sapiens (Cockerell) from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea is described and illustrated, the first representation of the immature stage for any member of this genus of stingless bees. A reexamination of the recently described larva of Melipona fallax Camargo and Pedro using a new technique reveals valuable insights regarding its integumental microstructures. On the basis of these findings and previously published accounts of larval representatives of five other genera (Melipona, Nogueirapis, Partamona, Plebeia, and Trigonisca), a preliminary description of the mature larva of the tribe Meliponini is presented. Multipronged spicules, recently discovered in meliponines, are investigated

Nesting biology of the bee Caupolicana yarrowi.

20 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps ; 26 cm. Appendix: Use of nectar by the desert bee Caupolicana yarrowi (Colletidae) in cell construction / James H. Cane and Jerome G. Rozen, Jr.The first part of this publication, written by a group of participants in Bee Course 2018, results from the discovery of three nests of Caupolicana yarrowi (Cresson, 1875) at the base of the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona. The nests are deep with branching laterals that usually connect to large vertical brood cells by an upward turn before curving downward and attaching to the top of the chambers. This loop of the lateral thus seems to serve as a "sink trap," excluding rainwater from reaching open cells during provisioning. Although mature larvae had not yet developed, an egg of C. yarrowi was discovered floating on the provisions allowing an SEM examination of its chorion, the first such study for any egg of the Diphaglossinae. Larval food for this species at this site came from Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav. (Solanaceae). Nests were parasitized by Triepeolus grandis (Friese, 1917) (Epeolini), which previously was known to attack only Ptiloglossa (Diphaglossinae: Caupolicanini). The subterranean nest cells of the desert bee Caupolicana yarrowi (Colletidae), which are enveloped by a casing of hardened soil that easily separates from the surrounding matrix, are discussed in a separate appendix. Chemical analysis revealed the casing to be rich in reducing sugars, indicating that the mother bee had regurgitated floral nectar onto the rough interior walls of the cell cavity before smoothing and waterproofing them. This novel use of nectar in nest construction is compared with that of other bee species that bring water to a nest site to soften soil for excavation

FIGURES 8, 9 in Preliminary Study of the Bumble Bee Bombus griseocollis, Its Eggs, Their Eclosion, and Its Larval Instars and Pupae (Apoidea: Apidae: Bombini)

FIGURES 8, 9. Distant (arrow) and close-up views of the micropyle of yet another egg, this one revealing no certain opening. FIGURES 10. Front of egg of Bombus griseocollis that has lost its chorion, revealing small opening into yolk (arrow) in the vitelline membrane through which spermatozoa are presumably funneled to fertilize the egg. 11. Close-up of entrance.Published as part of <i>Rozen, Jerome G., Smith, Corey Shepard & Johnson, Dennis E., 2018, American Museum Novitates 2018 (3898)</i> on page 1, DOI: 10.1206/3898.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10110474">http://zenodo.org/record/10110474</a&gt

FIGURES 5–7 in Preliminary Study of the Bumble Bee Bombus griseocollis, Its Eggs, Their Eclosion, and Its Larval Instars and Pupae (Apoidea: Apidae: Bombini)

FIGURES 5–7. SEM micrographs of another egg of Bombus griseocollis. 5. Entire egg (anterior end left), again with micropyle centered in middle of front end. 6. Close-up of elevation. 7. Further close-up, demonstrating large number of possible openings.Published as part of <i>Rozen, Jerome G., Smith, Corey Shepard & Johnson, Dennis E., 2018, American Museum Novitates 2018 (3898)</i> on page 1, DOI: 10.1206/3898.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10110474">http://zenodo.org/record/10110474</a&gt

FIGURES 31–33 in Preliminary Study of the Bumble Bee Bombus griseocollis, Its Eggs, Their Eclosion, and Its Larval Instars and Pupae (Apoidea: Apidae: Bombini)

FIGURES 31–33. Microphotographs of front of head of Bombus griseocollis showing variation in clypeal pigmentation.Published as part of <i>Rozen, Jerome G., Smith, Corey Shepard & Johnson, Dennis E., 2018, American Museum Novitates 2018 (3898)</i> on page 1, DOI: 10.1206/3898.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10110474">http://zenodo.org/record/10110474</a&gt

FIGURE 40 in Preliminary Study of the Bumble Bee Bombus griseocollis, Its Eggs, Their Eclosion, and Its Larval Instars and Pupae (Apoidea: Apidae: Bombini)

FIGURE 40. Microphotograph of cleared abdominal segment of fourth larval instar of Bombus griseocollis, anterior end right, with long, tapering, posteroventrad directed spicules of lower surface of lateral body swelling above and much smaller, denser ventral body spicules below.Published as part of <i>Rozen, Jerome G., Smith, Corey Shepard & Johnson, Dennis E., 2018, American Museum Novitates 2018 (3898)</i> on page 1, DOI: 10.1206/3898.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10110474">http://zenodo.org/record/10110474</a&gt