Why do some queen bees eat their worker bee's eggs?December 05, 2006Worker bees, wasps, and ants are often considered neuter. But in many species they are females with ovaries, who although unable to mate, can lay unfertilized eggs which turn into males if reared. For some species, such as bumble bees, this is the source of many of the males in the species. But in others, like the honeybee, workers "police" each other - killing eggs laid by workers or confronting egg-laying workers. In 1964 the English biologist William Hamilton put forward his "relatedness hypothesis", a major landmark in kin selection theory. His hypothesis was that worker bees, wasps and ants do not reproduce because most workers are half sisters. Instead the workers favor the queen's male progeny, since she has mated with multiple males, ensuring variation in the species. According to this theory, a species where the mother queen mates with multiple males would have more worker policing. This theory is widespread and in animal behavior textbooks. However, Hamilton's relatedness hypothesis was challenged in 2004 by researchers from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. They compared 50 species and found no evidence that multiple mating by the queen correlated with reduced rearing of workers' sons or greater worker reproductive policing. Were the textbooks wrong" A new study appearing in the current issue of The American Naturalist strongly supports Hamilton's original theory. Tom Wenseleers and Francis Ratnieks (University of Sheffield) compared 90 species and found that workers' sons are reared 100 times less in species with a queen mated to multiple males. They also found worker policing by the queen, with the queen eating working-laid eggs, in all species with multiple-mated queens, but in only 20 percent with single-mated queens. "It seems that the textbooks do not need rewriting," write the authors. "Kin selection theory is important when studying relatedness in social behavior. Social insects, with their great variation in kinship, have been a key test bed of the theory, and the theory has revolutionized our understanding of insect societies.\\\ University of Chicago Press Journals |
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| Related Bees Current Events and Bees News Articles Molecular study could push back angiosperm origins Flowering plants may be considerably older than previously thought, says a new analysis of the plant family tree. Exotic flowers help bees stay busy in winter Recent years have seen an unusual rise in the number of bees about in the cold winter months, and scientists are now beginning to find out why. First of missing primitive stars discovered Astronomers have discovered a relic from the early universe - a star that may have been among the second generation of stars to form after the Big Bang. Pesky aphid thrives despite weak immune system Pea aphids, expert survivors of the insect world, appear to lack major biological defenses, according to the first genetic analysis of their immune system. Biologist discovers 'stop' signal in honey bee communication A biologist at UC San Diego has discovered that honey bees warn their nest mates about dangers they encounter while feeding with a special signal that's akin to a "stop" sign for bees. Fewer honey bee colonies and beekeepers throughout Europe The number of bee colonies in Central Europe has decreased over recent decades. In fact, the number of beekeepers has been declining in the whole of Europe since 1985. This is the result of a study that has now been published by the International Bee Research Association, which for the first time has provided an overview of the problem of bee colony decline at the European level. Bees recognize human faces using feature configuration Going about their day-to-day business, bees have no need to be able to recognise human faces. Yet in 2005, when Adrian Dyer from Monash University trained the fascinating insects to associate pictures of human faces with tasty sugar snacks, they seemed to be able to do just that. The almond tree's secret weapon Has the almond tree developed a unique way of drawing potential pollinators? Study suggests theory for insect colonies as 'superorganisms' New A team of researchers including scientists from the University of Florida has shown insect colonies follow some of the same biological "rules" as individuals, a finding that suggests insect societies operate like a single "superorganism" in terms of their physiology and life cycle. BYU students making microscopic worms even more deadly BYU students making microscopic worms even more deadly Microscopic nematode worms can be a potent organic insecticide, killing crop-raiding bugs without harming plants or beneficial insects and without the environmental side effects of chemicals. But when the worms are mass-bred for agricultural purposes, they tend to, as Byron Adams says, "wimp out," and are not as deadly as their cousins that grow in the wild. More Bees Current Events and Bees News Articles |
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