Ovarian development in Meliponine bees (Hymenoptera : Apidae): the effect of queen presence and food on worker ovary development and egg production

Morphological studies of Meliponine worker ovaries in five species indicate d a possible stimulatory effect of the queen on ovary development and on th e production of trophic eggs in some of them. There are also indications th at the queen inhibits the production of fertile eggs by the workers. This i nhibition may involve a delay in the development of fertile eggs by the wor ker, until she is out of direct contact with the queen, or a lack of ovary development in the queen's presence, as seen in Leurotrigona muelleri. The evolutionary tendency toward inability to produce fertile eggs has its extr eme representation in the pupal worker ovary reabsorption found in Frieseom elitta silvestri. On the other hand, the finding, in some species, of dwarf queens with the basic number of ovarioles (four) in the ovaries, along wit h normal, trophically determined queens with larger numbers of ovarioles in the ovaries demonstrate the influence of food on this character, as in Api s mellifera.