Midterm

Question 1

(1) Which origin of the Western honeybee is thought to be correct?

Answer 1

e) The origin still has not been satisfactorily determined.

Question 2

(2) Wilson (1990) defines success of a taxon as:

Answer 2

c) Longevity of the entire clade through geological time.

Question 3

(3) Wilson (1990) defines dominance of a taxon as:

Answer 3

c) Having a high abundance, particularly in terms of biomass and its impact on the biota.

Question 4

(4) Wilson (1990) identifies which of the following to be the key advantage of colonial life:

Answer 4

a) Series-parallel operations.
b) Higher premiums paid to aggressive, dominant behaviour.
c) Superior resource inheritance.
d) More efficient homeostasis.
e)** All of the above.

Question 5

) Which objection to kin selection based on elevated relatedness for the evolution of eusociality in the
Hymenoptera was initially raised in response to Hamilton’s hypothesis?

Answer 5

a) Multiple foundress associations of females of the same gen
b) Multiple mating by queens occurs in some species of eusocial Hymenoptera.

Question 6

(6) What is the accepted series of basic steps shown by wasps on the “social ladder”?

Answer 6

b) Prey first; Nest first/single prey; Nest first/multiple prey; Progressive provisioning.

Question 7

7) In the diagram below, of colony growth in Bombus atratus, two of the colonies grow at a slower rate than
the others. This is because:

Answer 7

d) Diploid males are being produced.

Question 8

(8) Bumble bee queens emerge from overwintering in the spring. At this time, queens develop their ovaries and
search for a nest site in which to start a colony. Sarro et al. (2022) found that with Bombus vosnesenskii
queens:

Answer 8

d) Ovary development and nest-searching occur independently.

Question 9

(9) An imaginal disc is:

Answer 9

a) A sac-like epithelial structure found inside the larva of insects that undergo
metamorphosis.

Question 10

(10) Hilltopping:

Answer 10

b) Occurs in many species of insects.
d) Is when many males congregate on the top of a hill to attract females.

Question 11

(11) Male bumble bee mating strategies include:

Answer 11

perching
d) patrolling.

Question 12

The figure below shows the chromosomes of the termite Nasutitermes longipennis in meiosis. The distinctive
ring structure:

Answer 12

is caused by a series of reciprocal translocation involving a number of non-homologous
chromosomes.

Question 13

(13) The ovarian ground plan hypothesis proposes that:

Answer 13

a) that reproductive controls of a solitary ancestor have been co-opted during social evolution,
facilitating the division of labor among social insect workers.
b) was originally proposed by Mary Jane West-Eberhard.
c) assumes phenotypic plasticity.

Question 14

(14) The modal haploid chromosome number (N) for bumble bees (Bombus spp.) is:

Answer 14

18

Question 15

During the exponential growth phase of a social insect colony (bumble bee, for example), in terms of
productivity (calories/day) there is:

Answer 15

b) increasing returns to scale.

Question 16

(16) Which is a potential cost of polydomy in ants:

Answer 16

c) spread of infection between nests.

Question 17

(17) As the season progresses the average size of workers in a bumble bee colony is expected to:

Answer 17

c) increase.

Question 18

(18) One suggested proximate cost of polyandry by queens in eusocial hymenopteran species is:

Answer 18

c) fitness costs for search of additional mates.

Question 19

(19) In termites trophallaxis and coprophagy:

Answer 19

a) allows the direct or indirect transmission of microorganisms among workers and other castes.

Question 20

Adult Yellow jackets (Vespula germanica) only take up sugar-rich liquid for their daily diet. Why is it
important to filter the fluid before it is absorbed by the gut?

Answer 20

a) these fluids are usually collected from sources with high amounts of various particles, such as fruit
flesh or shards of bark, etc.
b) the gut is constricted by having to pass through the “wasp waist” which could become blocked.

Question 21

Multiple mating by queens is called

Answer 21

Polyandry

Question 22

Multiple nests per colony is called

Answer 22

Polydomy

Question 23

Multiple queens per colony is called

Answer 23

Polygyny

Question 24

What other mechanism (also proposed by W.D. Hamilton) can also account for female
biased sex ratios (e.g. 3:1) in the Hymenoptera apart from kin-selection?

Answer 24

Local Mate Competition

Question 25

e) What is the difference between “one-piece” and “multi-piece” termites?

Answer 25

One-piece = live in log or tree for their whole colony life, never leave;
Multi-piece = forage outside colony, bulked mounds.

Question 26

f) What is an “alate”

Answer 26

Winged sexual reproductives of an ant or termite.

Question 27

g) What is “claustral colony founding”?

Answer 27

Ant queen will start her nest in a concealed chamber (e.g. underground), never leave to
forage *& break down (histolyse) her wing muscles to feed her first brood larvae.

Question 28

What selective pressure is most likely to have favored the evolution of claustral colony
founding?

Answer 28

Risk of predation

Question 29

i) What are “nanitic” workers?

Answer 29

The first brood of workers in a eusocial insect colony.

Question 30

j) What is the difference between “pollen-storers” and “pocket-makers”?

Answer 30

Found in bumble bees. Pollen-storers store pollen in pots (often old cocoons) and feed
larvae individually with a mixture of pollen & honey. Pocket-markers make pockets in the
sides of clumps of larvae and supply the larvae en masse with pollen pushed into the
pockets.

Question 31

k) What is the “subsocial” route for the evolution of eusociality?

Answer 31

Daughters remain with their mothers and help rear their brothers and sisters.

Question 32

What is worker policing?

Answer 32

Workers will identify and destroy eggs laid by other workers.