Repeated evolution of soldier sub-castes suggests parasitism drives social complexity in stingless bees

Christoph Grüter (), Francisca H. I. D. Segers, Cristiano Menezes, Ayrton Vollet-Neto, Tiago Falcón, Lucas von Zuben, Márcia M. G. Bitondi, Fabio S. Nascimento and Eduardo A. B. Almeida
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Christoph Grüter: Universidade de São Paulo
Francisca H. I. D. Segers: Universidade de São Paulo
Cristiano Menezes: Embrapa Amazônia Oriental
Ayrton Vollet-Neto: Universidade de São Paulo
Tiago Falcón: Universidade de São Paulo
Lucas von Zuben: Universidade de São Paulo
Márcia M. G. Bitondi: Universidade de São Paulo
Fabio S. Nascimento: Universidade de São Paulo
Eduardo A. B. Almeida: Universidade de São Paulo

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The differentiation of workers into morphological castes represents an important evolutionary innovation that is thought to improve division of labor in insect societies. Given the potential benefits of task-related worker differentiation, it is puzzling that physical worker castes, such as soldiers, are extremely rare in social bees and absent in wasps. Following the recent discovery of soldiers in a stingless bee, we studied the occurrence of worker differentiation in 28 stingless bee species from Brazil and found that several species have specialized soldiers for colony defence. Our results reveal that worker differentiation evolved repeatedly during the last ~ 25 million years and coincided with the emergence of parasitic robber bees, a major threat to many stingless bee species. Furthermore, our data suggest that these robbers are a driving force behind the evolution of worker differentiation as targets of robber bees are four times more likely to have nest guards of increased size than non-targets. These findings reveal unexpected diversity in the social organization of stingless bees.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-016-0012-y

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