Sex, Sperm and Society. Insights into the evolutionary potential of sexual conflict in insects: a fundamental question in evolutionary biology

群居昆虫是生物学和经济上重要的物种。蜜蜂或无刺蜜蜂用于作物授粉和蜂蜜生产，入侵蚂蚁或白蚁是造成经济损失的严重害虫物种。群居昆虫在生物学上的成功部分是基于产生有许多工蜂的群体的能力，尽管群体通常只有一个或很少的繁殖体。因此，蜂群的成功取决于蜂王的生育能力，因此，研究群居昆虫的繁殖可以优化感兴趣物种的繁殖制度，或为控制有害物种提供新的可能性。关于精子形态和功能的详细信息将为了解有性生殖的复杂性提供开创性的见解。

Social insects are biologically and economically important species. Honeybees or stingless bees are used for crop pollination and honey production and invasive ants or termites are severe pest species causing economic damage. Part of the biological success of social insects is based on the capability to produce colonies with many workers although colonies typically contain only one or very few reproductives. Consequently, colony success is bound to queen fertility and studying social insect reproduction can therefore optimize breeding regimes of species of interest or offer new possibilities to control pest species. Detailed information on sperm form and function will provide pioneering insights into the complexity of sexual reproduction.