Rise of male individuals in stingless bees colonies leads to queen's death

(Funda ç ã o de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de S ã o Paulo) Stingless bees belong to Hymenoptera order, composed of social insect whose queens are capable of choosing the sex of their offspring. Only females are born from fertilized eggs, while males boast only maternal genetic material. However, queens might mate with males with whom they share a sex determination gene: in such cases, half the colony will be comprised of not-working males, as opposed to worker female bees. Research shows that, in order to save itself from collapse, the colony maims its own queen.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news