Abstract
It was investigated whether developmental characteristics of foundation queens of Bombus ignitus collected in the 4 localities in Korea would be affected by the first oviposition days of them. The first ovipostion day was classified as 1-4 days (immediate early), 5-6days (early), 7-10 days (delayed early), 11-20 days{medium), 21- 40 days (late), and above 41 days (very late). The queen that had the early first oviposition day, i.e., laid eggs so early after starting to be raised indoors, showed much higher rate of colony foundation and progeny-queen production and much shorter period of colony foundation and worker emergence. Besides, the numbers of worker and progeny-queen emerged from the queen that had the early first oviposition day were higher than those of the queen that had the late first oviposition. In results, the queen that had the early first oviposition day could make colony stronger and could make colony formation period shorter, therefore, the first oviposition day of foundation queen was proved to be a criterion for the selection of super colonies when B. ignitus is raised indoors.