The first contribution to karyotyping of the Australian allodapine bee Exoneura robusta

Abstract

The Australian allodapine bee, Exoneura robusta, is an important pollinator of native flowering plants in Australian wet forests. In this study, the karyotype of E. robusta is illustrated and described using an air-drying technique. The metaphase analysis of the females revealed a diploid chromosome number of 26 (2n = 26). We then discuss parameters affecting the quality of chromosomal spreads including humidity which is not included or examined in existing insect karyotyping protocols. It is further discussed that this might be a reason why current bee chromosomal preparation protocols cannot be easily adapted to different bee species.

Keywords:

• Chromosome number
• diploid
• humidity
• metaphase spread
• overlayed chromosomes

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Associate Professor Mike Schwarz for his invaluable advice during the experiments, to Associate Professor Mike Gardner, Dr Mohammad Javidkar and Dr Aaron Casey for reviewing the manuscript, their helpful comments and advice on running the karyotyping protocol.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by two Australian grants from the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (3000005577) and Nature Foundation, SA (3000006475).