Fig 1.
In vitro rearing protocol for honey bee (Apis mellifera) drones.
(A) grafting and larval incubation, (B) larval feeding, (C) day of prepupal transfer and pupal incubation, (D) pupal plate orientation, and (E) absorbent tissue in wells of pupal plate.
Fig 2.
Daily development photo and survival of in vitro reared honey bee drones.
A) Daily images of honey bee drones reared in vitro in the vertical plate orientation with WypAll® (PVW) and vertical plate orientation with Kimwipe® (PVK). B) Percent survival (± SEM in dashed lines) over time in days (post-oviposition) of honey bee drones reared in vitro in either the horizontal plate orientation with Kimwipe® absorbent tissue (PHK; n = 92) or the vertical plate orientation with WypAll® (PVW; n = 160) or Kimwipe® (PVK; n = 80). Different letters signify statistical differences at α = 0.05.
Fig 3.
Gross wing morphology of representative honey bee drones reared in vitro.
A) Adult drone emerged from a pupal plate oriented vertically and demonstrating normal wing morphology. B) Adult drone emerged from a pupal plate oriented horizontally and demonstrating wing hypoplasia (*) or C) wing aplasia (Ŧ).
Fig 4.
Body weight, adult testes weight, and abdominal area measurements in honey bee drones reared in vitro.
A) Mean ± SEM body weight (mg) and B) mean ± SEM abdominal area (mm2) and testes weight (mg) of age-matched honey bee drones reared either within a colony or in vitro. *, ** denotes statistical difference with P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively, between corresponding life stages reared in a colony (n = 20 prepupae; n = 30 adults) or in vitro (n = 21 prepupae; n = 30 adults).