Caste specific modulation of juvenile hormone titers in Apis mellifera

• Published in: Insect biochemistry Vol. 17; no. 7; pp. 1003 - 1006
• Main Author: Rembold, Heinz
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier B.V 1987; New York, NY Pergamon Press
• Subjects: Apis mellifera carnica; Biochemistry. Physiology. Immunology; Biological and medical sciences; caste; ecdysteroids; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Insecta; Invertebrates; juvenile hormones; larvae; Physiology. Development; worker honey bees; Apis mellifera; honey bee; Juvenile Hormone III; queen; caste; GC-Ms analysis; worker; Apis mellifica; Insecta; Apidae; Social insect; Metabolism; Caste differentiation; Assay; Gas chromatography; Apoidea; Arthropoda; Development; Developmental stage; Hymenoptera; Invertebrata; Worker(insect); Queen (insect); Mass spectrometry; Aculeata; Juvenile hormone
• ISSN: 0020-1790
• DOI: 10.1016/0020-1790(87)90110-7

The titers of JH III were studied in the larval and pupal stages of the two female honey bee castes, the queen and the worker. Whereas the early larval stages, L3 and L4, had to be pooled, all the last instar larvae, pupae, and newly hatched adults, were titered individually. The queen stages produce two-fold higher JH III titers in comparison with the worker stages. Both have relatively high titers during the early larval instars, decreasing from an average of 450 pmol/g at L3 to about 20 pmol/g in the queen and 75 pmol/g at L3 to 5 pmol/g at L5 in the worker. Both castes build up another JH III peak at the end of their spinning phase when entering the pharate pupa stage, with about 200 pmol/g in the queen and 60 pmol/g in the worker. No JH III was found in the pupal stage; the queen only develops a new JH III titer in the late pupal stage.