Africanized and European honey bee worker ovarian follicle development response to racial brood pheromone extractsRéponse du développement des follicules ovariens des ouvrières d’abeilles domestiques africanisées et européennes à des extraits de phéromone de couvain des mêmes racesReaktion der Follikelentwicklung auf rassenspezifische Brutpheromone bei afrikanisierten und europäischen Bienenarbeiterinnen

Africanized and European worker honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) ovary follicle development response to Africanized and European larval extracts and synthetic brood pheromone were measured and modeled. Africanized workers had significantly greater baseline development than European workers. Racial extracts did not differentially affect Africanized or European follicle development. Africanized EC50 of brood pheromone for follicle development inhibition was 16 times greater than for European workers. The higher worker reproductive ability of Africanized workers appeared intrinsic and was not explained by the racial blend of pheromone or composition of the adult rearing environment. Higher colony-level reproduction apparently extends to the individual-level in Africanized bees.