Eusocial insects could have started with monogamous pairs

Darkfrog submitted, created time 6 months 1 day (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

After reading all those depressing articles about how even monogamous species like swans and wolves cheat on their partners, this one was a bit refreshing. The authors posit that monogamy might be the foundation of cooperative species, at least in the beginning. These findings support the idea that cooperative insects group together because of the chance to let a sister pass on her genes and less because of straight survival.

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: eusocial insects eusociality insects bees hives monogamy fidelity kinship altruism

How to Keep a Wasp from Cheating

Vincent submitted, created time 8 months 2 weeks (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

It would be easy for fig wasps to cheat. These tiny insects pollinate figs in exchange for a share of the tree's seeds--and theoretically, the wasps could lay claim to more seeds than they deserve. But they don't, and now biologists know why. Parasitic wasps, usually thought of as the bad guys, keep the pollinators honest.

7 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: mutualism symbiosis parasites pollination pollen plants entymology insects sex fidelity

Duetting birds found to be unfaithful

Eric wu submitted, created time 11 months 1 week (www.nature.com)

Birds that sing in harmonious duets with one another have always been considered monogamous partners, with the singing thought to help in building faithful relationships. Now, research has shown at least that one such species sleeps around.

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: evolutionary biology ornithology monogamy fidelity birds