Worker Policing in Social Hymenoptera

群居蚂蚁、蜜蜂和黄蜂的聚居地为我们提供了 动物世界的合作范例。 但现代 进化论认为， 在昆虫群体中的繁殖冲突。 在 特别是，个别工人之间应该有冲突 和女王对男性的生产。 （工蚁、蜜蜂和 黄蜂是雌性的。 在大多数物种中，工蜂不能交配，但可以 产下未受精的卵，发育成雄性。） 理论 表明个体工人应该更愿意自己养活自己， 而不是他们的兄弟，女王的儿子，因为 他们在基因上与儿子的关系比与兄弟的关系更密切。 在一些 群居昆虫的种类，例如，熊蜂，工蜂 产生了许多殖民地的男性，而在其他人， 例如，蜜蜂和黄蜂，所有的雄性都是 女王的儿子们 工蜂生产的雄性蜜蜂的缺乏被认为是 是由于工蜂通过 吃对方的鸡蛋。 这种“工人警务”显然 因为蜂王与许多雄蜂交配。 这导致工人在基因上与 女王的儿子比其他工人的儿子（他们大多是 同父异母的姐妹），因此， 阻止其他工蜂繁殖。 相反，大黄蜂 蚁后只与一只雄蚁交配，因此工蚁的亲缘关系更近 而儿子们，则是一个不折不扣的大姐妹篇。 女王的儿子，不应该阻止对方繁殖。 本研究项目将更详细地研究 在蜜蜂中的工人警务， 看看工人是否通过差异化的卵清除来维持治安 也发生在这些昆虫身上。 一个重要的研究领域 将研究工蜂如何区分蜂王- 从工蜂产下的雄卵中， 化学物质（信息素），可以给他们的蛋一个独特的气味。 此外，该项目还将量化 工蜂在正常的蜂箱中产卵，并将研究 工蜂进入含有雄性卵的细胞的行为， 看看有没有特别的“警察蜂”。"

Colonies of social ants, bees, and wasps provide fascinating examples of cooperation in the animal world. However, modern evolutionary theory suggests that there should be considerable conflict over reproduction within an insect colony. In particular, there should be conflict between individual workers and the queen over male production. (Worker ants, bees, and wasps are females. In most species, workers cannot mate but can lay unfertilized eggs, which develop into males.) Theory suggests that individual workers should prefer to rear their own sons rather than their brothers, the sons of the queen, because they are more genetically related to sons than brothers. In some species of social insects, for example, bumble bees, workers produce many of the colony's males, whereas in others, for example, honey bees and yellowjacket wasps, all the males are sons of the queen. The absence of male honey bees produced by workers is thought to result from workers preventing each other from reproducing by eating each other's eggs. This "worker policing" has apparently evolved in the honey bee because the queen mates with many males. This leads to workers being more genetically related to the queen's sons than to the sons of other workers (who are mostly half-sisters), so that it is in each worker's genetic interest to stop other workers from reproducing. In contrast, bumble-bee queens mate with only one male, so that workers are more related to the sons of the workers (who are all full sisters) than to the queen's sons, and should not stop each other from reproducing. This research project will examine in more detail the mechanism of worker policing in honey bees, and also look at yellowjacket wasps to see if worker policing by differential egg removal occurs in these insects as well. One important area of research will investigate how worker honey bees can distinguish queen- from worker-laid male eggs, by looking for a queen-produced chemical (pheromone) that may give their eggs a distinctive odor. In addition, the project will quantify the rate of production of worker-laid eggs in normal bee hives, and will look at the behavior of worker bees entering cells containing male eggs to see if some workers are special "police bees."