Figure 1.

Stressors impacting queen and drone fertility and their downstream effects on queen quality and post-mating changes and worker behavior and physiology. The small arrows inside of the boxes indicate an increase or decrease of queen post-mating changes or subsequent worker behavioral or physiological traits as observed during ideal natural conditions, but disruptions in male fertility may subsequently affect the intensity and manifestation of these phenotypes. Multiple stressors impact queen and drone fertility, including pathogens and parasites, such as Nosema spp. and Varroa destructor mites, which affect drone mating flight behavior and seminal fluid proteome composition. These and other drone mating factors, such as insemination volume and insemination fluid composition also impact queen fertility, which subsequently affect the behavior and physiology of workers. In turn, altered queen-worker interactions may affect colony level productivity and health.