Social Insects Flashcards
1
Q
explain social insects
A
- Reproductive division between queens and workers
- Parental care (workers) is separated from reproduction (queen)
2
Q
Solitary reproductive cycle
A
- Nest -> build cell -> pollen and nectar -> lay egg
- After “lay egg”, the cycle goes back to “make nest” and repeat cycle
3
Q
social reproductive cycle
A
- general: Nest -> build cell -> pollen and nectar -> lay egg
- Workers: cycle ends at”pollen and nectar” then cycle starts back at “nest”
- Queen: Stays in “lay egg” cycle and does not do other functions
4
Q
reproductive cycle for wasps and ants
A
- Nest -> build cell -> pollen and nectar -> lay egg
- same for bees but replace ‘pollen and nectar’ with other provisions for wasps and ants
5
Q
How can worker sterility be selected for?
A
- indirect fitness
- workers are daughters of the queen
- they are raising relatives
6
Q
Who are the social Hymenoptera?
A
- some bees
- some wasps (paper wasps, hornets, yellowjackets)
- all ants (none are solitary)
7
Q
Nesting and the evolution of social behavior
A
- Nest means opportunity for parent-offspring interactions
- Daughter can stay to help mom rear more offspring (the daughter’s sisters)
8
Q
explain the social wasps: paper wasps, yellowjackets, hornets
A
- social hunters
- they are predatory wasps, but hunt with mandibles, not with sting
- Hunt caterpillars, chew up to provision to offspring
- Sting for self/nest defense
- Bigger colonies more aggressive
9
Q
social wasps - why are bigger colonies more aggressive
A
- More to defend = more to lose
- The cost of being aggressive are lower with many individuals present
10
Q
social wasps - explain their ecological importance
A
- By mid-summer there are huge colonies
- ecologically important source of predation through the control of herbivory (via caterpillar consumption)
11
Q
explain the Bombus (Bumblebee) life cycle
A
- mating queens emerge from diapause in spring/summer
- Search for nest sites (often old mouse burrow), fly low
- Forage for food, lay first eggs
- First generations become workers; queen stops foraging
- At the end of the season, males and future queens produced, mating
- Future queen overwinters, everyone else dies
12
Q
explain the Apis (Honeybee) life cycle
A
- No solitary state – new colonies established by swarm of workers from old colony accompanying queen to new nest site
- Elaborate communication (waggle dance)
- Honey is used as the bee’s food source to buffer environmental variation
13
Q
explain the ants
A
- Diverse and ecologically massively important
- All social – no solitary ant species
- Typically, predators, often the most important of other insect
- Can be de facto herbivores by tending Hemipterans (like aphids)
- Often have morphological castes
14
Q
ants - Why do you think morphological castes are more common in ants and termites than in social bees and wasps?
A
- Ants do not have to fly, they only have wings for mating then they drop
- Thus, ants can have bodies that don’t work too well for flying
15
Q
why is it that natural selection can select for behaviors that favor colony level reproductive success
A
Indirect fitness
