Reproduction inApis Cerana2. Reproductive Organs and Natural Insemination

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Abstract
The morphology of the genitalia, and the mating behaviour of Apis cerana indica from Peshawar, Pakistan, are described. The morphology of the vagina of the A. cerana queen, in particular the open val vefold, makes instrumental insemination easier than in A. mellifera. In the drone, both the quantity of semen and the concentration of spermatozoa in it are lower than in A. mellifera. In the seminal vesicles about 1·5 million spermatozoa were found per drone, and in the ejaculated fluid about 1·0 million per drone. One queen, dissected immediately after a second mating flight, had a quantity of semen in the oviducts corresponding to that from 14 drones, so on both flights together this queen may have mated with some 30 drones. A mating sign was observed on newly mated queens, but it lacked the chitinized plates found in A. mellifera. It is concluded that, to ensure full insemination, A. cerana queens must mate with more drones than is necessary for A. mellifera queens. Evolutionary trends in the genus Apis are discussed.