DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Worker Nepotism During Queen Combat in Honey Bees

论文研究：蜂后斗争中的工蜂裙带关系主要研究者（论文指导老师）：Thomas D. seeley博士研究生：David C. gilley裙带关系在社会动物中是一种普遍现象，但在蜜蜂等高度合作的昆虫社会中几乎没有证据表明裙带关系。进化论预测，当一个蜂群中有多个蜂王时，蜂群中的工蜂应该表现出裙带关系，并且它们会为决定谁将成为蜂群的下一任蜂王而你死我活。每只工蜂都有机会帮助同父异母的蜂后（与工蜂有四分之三的基因）杀死同父异母的蜂后（与工蜂只有四分之一的基因）。研究生将确定蜜蜂工蜂在蜂王战斗中是否表现得裙带关系。他将分三步完成这个目标（步骤1和步骤2已经完成）。他观察了蜂王在自然环境下的争斗，并确定了两种工蜂行为，工蜂对蜂王的攻击和守护蜂王的行为，最有可能是裙带关系。他对五个蜂群中的工蜂进行了个体识别标记，并记录了它们在随后的蜂王战斗中对工蜂-蜂王的攻击和蜂王细胞的守卫。他将使用DNA微卫星来确定第二步的工蜂是更经常攻击同父异母的蜂王，还是更经常保护同父异母的蜂王。蜜蜂群体中裙带关系的证据表明，即使在高度合作的社会中，当裙带关系的收益（更大份额的群体繁殖产出）超过裙带关系的成本（更小的群体繁殖产出）时，裙带关系也会发生。

DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Worker nepotism during queen combat in honey beesPrincipal Investigator (thesis advisor): Thomas D. SeeleyDoctoral Studies Graduate Student: David C. GilleyNepotism is a widespread phenomenon in social animals, yet there is little evidence of it within the highly cooperative societies of insects, such as honey bees. Evolutionary theory predicts that the workers in honey bee colonies should show nepotism when there are multiple queens in a colony and they are fighting to the death to determine who will be the colony's next queen. Each worker has the opportunity to help a full-sister queen (with whom the worker shares three quarters of her genes) kill half-sister queens (with whom the worker shares only one quarter of her genes). The graduate student will determine if honey bee workers behave nepotistically during queen fighting. He will accomplish this goal in three steps (steps 1 and 2 have been completed).1. He has observed queen fighting in a natural context and has determined that two worker behaviors, worker-queen aggression and queen-cell guarding, are most likely to be nepotistic.2. He has labeled for individual identification the workers in five colonies and has recorded their worker-queen aggression and queen-cell guarding during subsequent queen fighting.3. He will use DNA microsatellites to determine if the workers from step 2 more often aggressed half-sister queens and more often guarded full-sister cells.Evidence of nepotism in honey bee colonies will show that even in highly cooperative societies nepotism will occur when the benefit of nepotism (a greater share of the colony's reproductive output) exceeds the cost of nepotism (a smaller total colony reproductive output).