Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-995ml Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T23:30:13.242Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

BROOD BIONOMICS OF BOMBUS RUDERATUS IN NEW ZEALAND (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Nelson Pomeroy
Affiliation:
Department of Botany and Zoology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract

Observations of five free foraging colonies of Bombus (Megabombus) ruderatus (Fab.) are reported with respect to brood production and mortality. Emphasis is given to the nutrition of larvae and new adults, and larval ejection. Seasonal trends in the sex, caste, and size of adults are reported. Colony size was relatively large for a temperate Bombus species. Intraspecific variation in colony size was related to the timing of male production.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alford, D. V. 1970. The incipient stages of development of bumblebee colonies. Insectes soc. 17: 110.Google Scholar
Alford, D. V. 1975. Bumblebees. Davis-Poynter, London.Google Scholar
Brian, A. D. 1951. Brood development in Bombus agrorum (Hym., Bombidae). Entomologist's mon. Mag. 87: 207212.Google Scholar
Brian, M. V. and Brian, A. D.. 1948. Regulation of oviposition in social Hymenoptera. Nature, Lond. 161: 854856.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cumber, R. A. 1949. The biology of humble-bees with special reference to the production of the worker caste. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 100: 145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Free, J. B. and Butler, C. G.. 1959. Bumblebees. Collins, London.Google Scholar
Free, J. B., Weinberg, I., and Whiten, A.. 1969. The egg-eating behaviour of Bombus lapidarius L. Behaviour 35: 313317.Google Scholar
Frison, T. H. 1930. A contribution to the knowledge of the bionomics of Bremus americanorum (Fabr.) (Hymenoptera). Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 23: 644665.Google Scholar
Gurr, L. 1964. The distribution of bumblebees in the South Island of New Zealand. N.Z. J. Sci. 7: 625642.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. 1964. The genetical evolution of social behaviour. I. J. theor. Biol. 7: 116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hasselrot, T. B. 1960. Studies on Swedish bumblebees (genus Bombus Latr.): their domestication and biology. Opusc. ent. Suppl. 17. 192 pp.Google Scholar
Hobbs, G. A. 1964. Phylogeny of bumble bees based on brood-rearing behaviour. Can. Ent. 96: 115116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, G. A. 1966. Ecology of species of Bombus Latr. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in southern Alberta. V. Subgenus Subterraneobombus Vogt. Can. Ent. 98: 288294.Google Scholar
Hoffer, E. 1882. Die Hummeln Steiermarks. Lebensgeschichte und Beschreibung derselben. Graz.Google Scholar
Hopkins, I. 1914. History of the humble-bee in New Zealand: Its introduction and results. N.Z. Dep. Agric. Bull. 46 (n.s.).Google Scholar
Knee, W. J. and Medler, J. T.. 1965. The seasonal size increase of bumblebee workers (Hymenoptera: Bombus). Can. Ent. 97: 11491155.Google Scholar
Macevicz, S. and Oster, G.. 1976. Modelling social insect populations II: Optimal reproductive strategies in primitively eusocial colonies. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 1: 256282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michener, C. D. 1974. The social behavior of the bees. A comparative study. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Miyamoto, S. 1960. Observations on the behaviour of Bombus diversus Smith (Biological studies on Japanese bees, XIII). Insectes soc. 7: 3956.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plowright, R. C. 1966. Domestication and caste differentiation in bumblebees. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.Google Scholar
Plowright, R. C. and Pendrel, B. A.. 1977. Larval growth in bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Can Ent. 109: 967973.Google Scholar
Plowright, R. C. and Jay, S. C.. 1968. Caste differentiation in bumblebees (Bombus Latr.: Hym.) 1. The determination of female size. Insects soc. 15: 171192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plowright, R. C. and Jay, S. C.. 1977. On the size determination of bumble bee castes (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Can. J. Zool. 55: 11331138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pomeroy, N. 1977. Nesting biology of Bombus ruderatus Fab. (Hymenoptera: Apidae). M.Sc. Thesis, Massey University, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Pomeroy, N. and Plowright, R. C.. 1979 a. Larval ejection following CO2 narcosis of bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). J. Kansas ent. Soc. 52: 215217.Google Scholar
Pomeroy, N. and Plowright, R. C.. 1979 b. Designs of hives for bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Richards, O. W. 1968. The subgeneric divisions of the genus Bombus Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.) 22: 210276.Google Scholar
Röseler, P.-F. 1967. Untersuchungen über das Auftreten der 3 Formen im Hummelstaat. Zool. Jb. Physiol. 74: 178197.Google Scholar
Sakagami, S. F. 1976. Specific differences in the bionomic characters of bumblebees. A comparative review. J. Fac. Sci. Hokkaido Univ. VI (Zool.) 20: 390447.Google Scholar
Sakagami, S. F., Akahira, Y., and Zucchi, R.. 1967. Nest architecture and brood development in a neotropical bumblebee, Bombus atratus. Insectes soc. 14: 389414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sakagami, S. F. and Katayama, E.. 1977. Nests of some Japanese bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). J. Fac. Sci. Hokkaido Univ. VI (Zool.) 21: 92153.Google Scholar
Sladen, F. W. L. 1912. The humble-bee, its life history and how to domesticate it. Macmillan, London.Google Scholar
Stephen, W. P. and Koontz, T.. 1973. The larvae of the Bombini. II. Developmental changes in the preadult stages of Bombus griseocollis (De Geer). Melanderia 13: 1329.Google Scholar
Wilkey, R. F. 1962. A simplified technique for clearing, staining and permanently mounting small arthropods. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 55: 606.Google Scholar