Journal
INSECTES SOCIAUX
Volume 52, Issue 4, Pages 316-319Publisher
SPRINGER BASEL AG
DOI: 10.1007/s00040-005-0812-2
Keywords
honey bee workers; climatic regions; evolution; longevity; vitellogenin
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The honey bee originated in tropical Africa and later dispersed to northern Europe. It has been suggested that a higher hemolymph storage capacity for the glycolipoprotein vitellogenin evolved in temperate regions, and that the trait constitutes an adaptation to a strongly seasonal environment. We have investigated whether the relative vitellogenin levels of European and African honey bees are in accordance with this hypothesis. Our data indicate that European workers have a higher set-point concentration for vitellogenin compared to their African origin. Considered together with available life history information and physiological data, the results lend support to the view that winter bees, a longlived honey bee worker caste that survives winter in temperate regions, evolved through an increase in the worker bees' capacity for vitellogenin accumulation.
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