ALLOZYME VARIATION, LINKAGE DISEQUILIBRIUM AND DIPLOID MALE PRODUCTION IN A PRIMITIVELY SOCIAL BEE AUGOCHLORELLA-STRIATA (HYMENOPTERA, HALICTIDAE)

A population of the primitively eusocial bee Augochlorella striata was surveyed for allozyme variation at 47 loci for 35 enzyme systems with a mean number of haploid genomes sampled of 76 per locus. The expected heterozygosity (mean + S.E.) was 0·107 ± 0·004, the highest found for any bee species, solitary or social, studied to date. This result indicates that low levels of genetic variation are not ubiquitous in bees. No differences in allele frequencies between males and females were found. One diploid male was detected providing a maximum likelihood estimate of the frequency of diploid males in the population of 2-6 per cent. Strong linkage disequilibrium was detected between the loci Dia-2 and Lap. Under a genetic drift explanation for disequilibrium and realistic assumptions for the recombination rate between the two loci, the predicted population size is in broad agreement with that suggested from field studies. © 1990, The Genetical Society of Great Britain.