Summary.
Mechanical stresses by a narrow glass capillary were applied to unfertilized eggs of honeybees to determine whether the removal of meiotic blocks of the eggs could be caused by simple mechanical stimuli. The treated eggs developed into the anaphase of the first meiotic division at 15 min after treatment, whereas the untreated eggs remained arrested at the metaphase of the first meiotic division. The results of histological examination of the common oviduct showed that its inner widths were sufficiently narrow to cause the distortion of eggs passing through it. The distorted eggs could be fertilized and develop into diploid embryos if they were exposed to the semen immediately (within 30 sec) after egg distortion. However, this would not happen if the distorted eggs were exposed to semen later (30 min). The eggs exposed to the semen but not given mechanical stimuli could initiate the embryonic development with diploid chromosomes. The interval between mechanical distortion and sperm acceptance by eggs in vitro is compatible with that of natural oviposition of fertilized eggs by honeybee queens. These results suggest that egg activation by mechanical stresses in the common oviduct is valid for the natural oviposition in honeybees.
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Received 26 November 2001; revised 25 February and 25 March 2002; accepted 2 April 2002.
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Sasaki, K., Obara, Y. Egg activation and timing of sperm acceptance by an egg in honeybees (Apis mellifera L.). Insectes soc. 49, 234–240 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-002-8307-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-002-8307-x