science

Queen mandibular pheromone

Queen mandibular pheromone is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Queen mandibular pheromone rather than just read about it. In short: Queen mandibular pheromone, or QMP, is a honey bee pheromone produced by the queen and fed to her attendants who share it with the rest of the colony to give the colony the sense of belonging to the queen. Newly emerged queens produce very little QMP.

Key takeaways

Queen mandibular pheromone belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Queen mandibular pheromone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Queen mandibular pheromone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Queen mandibular pheromone, or QMP, is a honey bee pheromone produced by the queen and fed to her attendants who share it with the rest of the colony to give the colony the sense of belonging to the queen. Newly emerged queens produce very little QMP. By the sixth day they are producing enough to attract drones for mating. A laying queen makes twice that amount. Lack of QMP seems to attract robber bees. A study of foraging worker bees has suggested that foraging bees are not attracted to QMP.

Chemical composition Chemically, QMP is very diverse, with at least 17 major components and other minor ones. Five of these compounds are: 9-oxo-2-decenoic acid (9ODA), cis- and trans-9-hydroxydec-2-enoic acid (9HDA), methyl p-hydroxybenzoate (HOB) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylethanol (HVA).

Drones QMP functions as a sex pheromone for drones, attracting males to an unmated queen. 9ODA specifically is known to attract drones over long distances, and its combination with 9HDA and 10HDA at close range increases drone attraction to the queen. Drone detection of 9ODA begins in the antennae, triggering a pathway that leads to behavioral responses. This begins with diffusion of 9ODA through the antennae's pores, into the lymph of the olfactory sensillum. The hydrophilic domain of carrier protein ASP1 binds to an apolar region of 9ODA, forming a complex that is transported to olfactory receptors located in the olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). Olfactory receptor AmOR11 specifically is involved in responding to the pheromone/carrier complex. Although expressed in all castes, expression of AmOR11 is significantly higher in drones, further suggesting its role in 9ODA detection. The binding of the pheromone/carrier to AmOR11 sends a signal to the brain's primary olfactory centres. The specific neural pathway by which 9ODA causes behavioral changes is not yet developed in bees, however research shows olfactory signals from floral odors are integrated to the level of mushroom bodies. Research has not been conducted for the 9ODA pathway.

Workers Components of QMP also function as a retinue pheromone, causing retinue behavioral and physiological changes in the female worker bees. Changes in QMP's chemical composition following a queen's mating attracts young worker bees to her, fulfilling her feeding and grooming requirements. QMP is transferred through contact from the queen to young workers, and in turn to the rest of the hive's workers. In doing so, the queen elicits behavioral changes in remaining workers, preventing the rearing of new queens, and preventing ovary development. Behavioral changes in the workers as a result of QMP exposure is thought to be mediated through changes in juvenile hormone (JH) level. 9ODA specifically leads to changes in the endocrine organs, via the brain's mushroom bodies. QMP moderates the decrease in JH synthesis in young bees, preventing foraging behaviour.

Queen retinue pheromone Slessor (2005) differentiates QMP from queen retinue pheromone, on the basis of three fatty-acid constituents which are not derived from the mandibular gland.

Effects on physiological features Research has indicated that queen mandibular pheromones were capable of altering the physiology of the worker bees. Research indicates that when reared larvae are not fed queen mandibular pheromones, they develop more ovarioles, larger mandibular glands, larger Dufour glands, and smaller hypopharyngeal glands, all traits commonly seen in queen bees. Similarly, Nasonov gland size has been shown to decrease in worker bees who were not fed the queen mandibular pheromones as larvae.

Beekeeping Sometimes beekeepers re-queen their hives for various reasons. Some beekeepers place these now-unneeded queens in alcohol. The alcohol preserves the deceased queen and her pheromones. This "queen juice" can then be used as a lure in swarm traps. The dead queen is either placed in a swarm trap or a q-tip or cottonball dipped in the alcohol into a swarm trap. The alcohol evaporates, leaving the queen pheromone which may enhance the chances of a swarm moving into a trap.

Queen Pheromone Strips Queen pheromone strips are a technology used to replicate the presence of a queen and act as a substitute for queenless colonies. These queen pheromone strips are imbued with queen mandibular pheromones. Being a cheaper alternative to actual queens, these strips are often used in research settings, serving as a substitute for the queen in research relating to the queen mandibular pheromones. Replicating the effects of queen mandibular pheromones, the strips and pheromones themselves was shown to increase Ecdysteroid titers in bees exposed to the pheromone continuously. Likewise, use of queen pheromone strips has shown that queen mandibular pheromones are capable of affecting dopamine receptor genes (Amdop1 and Amdop3), in turn, influencing attracting to the pheromone as the worker bees age.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Queen mandibular pheromone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Queen mandibular pheromone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Queen mandibular pheromone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Queen mandibular pheromone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Queen mandibular pheromone

In research: Queen mandibular pheromone appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Queen mandibular pheromone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Queen mandibular pheromone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Beekeeping, Insect pheromones, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Queen mandibular pheromone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Queen mandibular pheromone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Queen mandibular pheromone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Queen mandibular pheromone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Queen mandibular pheromone in simple terms?

Why does Queen mandibular pheromone matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Queen mandibular pheromone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Queen mandibular pheromone.