Tug-of-war over reproduction in a social bee
Details
Download: BIB_B9EC00D7631D.P001.pdf (178.59 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: author
State: Public
Version: author
Serval ID
serval:BIB_B9EC00D7631D
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Tug-of-war over reproduction in a social bee
Journal
Nature
ISSN
1476-4687
Publication state
Published
Issued date
04/2004
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
428
Number
6985
Pages
844-7
Notes
Journal Article --- Old month value: Apr 22
Abstract
One of the main transitions in evolution is the shift from solitary organisms to societies with reproductive division of labour. Understanding social evolution requires us to determine how ecological, social and genetic factors jointly influence group stability and partitioning of reproduction between group members. Here we test the role of the three key factors predicted to influence social evolution by experimentally manipulating them in a social allodapine bee. We show that increased relatedness between nestmates results in more even reproduction among group members and a greater productivity per individual. By contrast, the degree of reproductive skew is not influenced by the opportunity for solitary breeding or by the potential benefits of cooperation. Relatedness also has a positive effect on group stability and overall productivity. These findings are in line with predictions of the tug-of-war models, in which the degree of reproductive division of labour is determined primarily by selfish competition between group members. The alternative view, where the degree of reproductive skew is the outcome of a social contract between potential breeders, was not supported by the data.
Keywords
Animals Bees/*physiology Competitive Behavior/*physiology Cooperative Behavior Ecology Evolution Female Heredity Male Models, Biological Nesting Behavior Reproduction/*physiology
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
24/01/2008 18:39
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:27