Wasps, hornets, and other Hymenoptera may live nearly solitary lives, live in huge colonies, or something in between. The European hornet, Vespa crabro, lives in a colony consisting of one queen mated to a single male. In Hymenoptera, females are typically diploid (having genes from both parents) while males are typically haploid (having genes only from the female parent). If you draw a diagram of this and stare at it for a long time, you may come to the same conclusions that Bill “Buzz Off” Hamilton came to several years ago. A female would benefit genetically from helping her mother raise more sisters to a greater extent than she would benefit from having her own offspring, because she will be related to her sisters by 75% but to her offspring by 50%. Depending on other conditions, of course.
Continue reading Scientific Research shows that a mystery pheromone may create zombies →