1932

Abstract

One of the most obvious characteristics of an insect society is reproductive cooperation. Yet insect colonies are vulnerable to reproductive parasitism, both by workers from their own colony and by workers from others. Little is known about the mechanisms insect societies have evolved to protect themselves from being exploited from within and outside the colony and the mechanisms that social parasites have evolved to circumvent these mechanisms. Here we showcase recently discovered cases of intraspecific parasitism by workers in eusocial bees. These discoveries overturn the widespread view that insect colonies are like fortresses populated by female eunuchs, and yield important insights into the mechanisms that normally enforce functional worker sterility.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093515
2008-01-07
2024-12-08
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093515
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.ento.53.103106.093515
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error