Article
Colony stage and not facultative policing explains pattern of worker reproduction in the Saxon wasp.
Molecular ecology - 1 Aug 2011
Bonckaert W, van Zweden J S, d'Ettorre P, Billen J, Wenseleers T
Abstract excerpt
Inclusive fitness theory predicts that in colonies of social Hymenoptera headed by a multiple-mated queen, workers should benefit from policing eggs laid by other workers. Foster & Ratnieks provided evidence that in the vespine wasp Dolichovespula saxonica, workers police other workers' eggs only in colonies headed by a multiple-mated queen, but not in those headed by a single-mated one. This conclusion, however,...
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