LEVELS OF POLYANDRY AND INTRACOLONIAL GENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS IN APIS-FLOREA

DNA was extracted from worker and drone pupae of each of five colonies of the dwarf honey bee Apis florea. Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were conducted on DNA extracts using five sets of primers known to amp lify microsatellite loci in A. mellifera. Based on microsatellite alle le distributions, queens of the five colonies mated with at least 5-14 drones. This is up to 3 times previous maximum estimates obtained fro m sperm counts. The discrepancy between sperm count and microsatellite estimates of the number of matings in A. florea suggests that despite direct injection of semen into the spermatheacal duct, either A. flor ea drones inject only a small proportion of their semen, or queens are able to rapidly expel excess semen after mating. A model of sexual se lection (first proposed by Koeniger and Koeniger) is discussed in whic h males attempt to gain reproductive dominance by increasing ejaculate volume and direct injection of spermatozoa into the spermatheca, whil e queens attempt to maintain polyandry by retaining only a small fract ion of each male's ejaculate. It is shown, at least in this limited sa mple, that the effective number of matings is lower in A. florea than in A. mellifera.