Male production and worker policing in Parachartergus colobopterus, a neotropical, swarm-founding wasp

dc.contributor.advisorStrassmann, Joan E.
dc.creatorHenshaw, Michael Thomas
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-04T08:07:19Z
dc.date.available2009-06-04T08:07:19Z
dc.date.issued1998
dc.description.abstractIn many social insects, workers are capable of producing males. Workers are more highly related to their own sons than to the sons of the queens, and so it is surprising that queens often monopolize male production even though they are outnumbered by the workers. A possible explanation is that workers prevent each other from reproducing when their relatedness to the sons of the queens is higher than their relatedness to the sons of other workers. Using microsatellite loci to assess genetic relatedness, we determined that workers of the wasp species Parachartergus colobopterus should prevent each other from reproducing. Analyses of the male genotypes showed that queens were producing the males in accord with our prediction. We did not find evidence for policing behavior however, so these results are also consistent with the hypothesis that worker reproduction has colony-level costs which have led to a conventional settlement.
dc.format.extent29 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS ECOL. 1998 HENSHAW
dc.identifier.citationHenshaw, Michael Thomas. "Male production and worker policing in Parachartergus colobopterus, a neotropical, swarm-founding wasp." (1998) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17175">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17175</a>.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/17175
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.
dc.subjectEntomology
dc.titleMale production and worker policing in Parachartergus colobopterus, a neotropical, swarm-founding wasp
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialText
thesis.degree.departmentEcology and Evolutionary Biology
thesis.degree.disciplineNatural Sciences
thesis.degree.grantorRice University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts
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