Sociality emerges from solitary behaviours and reproductive plasticity in the orchid bee Euglossa dilemma.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of eusociality and sterile worker castes represents a major transition in the history of life. Despite this, little is known about the mechanisms involved in the initial transition from solitary to social behaviour. It has been hypothesized that plasticity from ancestral solitary life cycles was coopted to create queen and worker castes in insect societies. Here, we tested this hypothesis by examining gene expression involved in the transition from solitary to social behaviour in the orchid bee Euglossa dilemma. To this end, we conducted observations that allowed us to classify bees into four distinct categories of solitary and social behaviour. Then, by sequencing brain and ovary transcriptomes from these behavioural phases, we identified gene expression changes overlapping

SUBMITTER: Saleh NW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6650703 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature