Societies and reproduction - part 2

Question 1

what are the steps in the reproductive cycle

Answer 1

1. dispersal and founding
2. group establishment
3. group growth
4. reproduction

Question 2

The main categories of dispersal and founding of new societies

Answer 2

• Independent dispersal and solitary founding.
• Independent dispersal and cooperative founding.
• Independent dispersal and dependent founding.
• Dependent dispersal and founding.

Question 3

Independent dispersal and solitary founding is typically seen where

Answer 3

most semi-social and eusocial societies

Question 4

Independent dispersal and solitary founding - how does it start

Answer 4

Mated, reproductive females, or male-female pairs start a new society by themselves in a new location

Question 5

Independent dispersal and solitary founding - once a location is found, what happens

Answer 5

The founding individual(s) initially perform all tasks until enough individuals have been produced to establish a division of labor

Question 6

Independent dispersal and solitary founding - how is a division of labor conducted

Answer 6

exploiting asymmetry in power by manipulating offspring

Question 7

Independent dispersal and cooperative founding is typically seen where

Answer 7

• many mammal societies where reproductive, dispersing individuals leave their natal society
• social arthropods, especially under resource-limited conditions.

Question 8

Independent dispersal and cooperative founding (mammal) - how are new societies formed

Answer 8

by aggregating with other dispersing individuals, especially other females

Question 9

Independent dispersal and cooperative founding (mammal) - cooperation

Answer 9

may involve dominance ranks, but does not alter the capacity for reproduction by all reproductive females.

Question 10

Independent dispersal and cooperative founding (mammal) - how is a reproductive monopoly established

Answer 10

Strong dominance coercion by males over other males (power asymmetry)

Question 11

Independent dispersal and cooperative founding (arthropods) - example

Answer 11

Cooperative colony founding in fire ants

Question 12

Independent dispersal and cooperative founding (fire ants) - likelihood of multiple founding queens

Answer 12

Likelihood of multiple founding queens increases with density of new queens and/or nest-site limitation

Question 13

Independent dispersal and cooperative founding (fire ants) - are the individuals in the colony related

Answer 13

Individuals aggregate after dispersal, so they are not sisters.

Question 14

Independent dispersal and cooperative founding (fire ants) - how long does the aggregation last

Answer 14

Aggregation lasts only through initial establishment stage, and then conflict results in the death of all but one queen

Question 15

Independent dispersal and dependent founding - what is it defined by

Answer 15

Defined by independently dispersing reproductive individuals joining established social groups.

Question 16

Independent dispersal and dependent founding - typically seen where

Answer 16

mammal societies where dispersing, reproductively capable individuals join existing societies as low-ranking members, or as high ranking members via aggression

Question 17

Dependent dispersal and founding - how do they reproduce

Answer 17

by budding or fissioning

Question 18

Dependent dispersal and founding - typically seen where

Answer 18

Limited to complex eusocial societies

Question 19

Dependent dispersal and founding - where are females produced

Answer 19

Females are produced within the mother society

Question 20

Dependent dispersal and founding - who do the females typically mate

Answer 20

mating is typically with unrelated males from other colonies that disperse and find reproductive colony.

Question 21

Dependent dispersal and founding - what happens to the mother colony

Answer 21

Mother colony splits into two or more daughter colonies, each with a queen and half of the existing workforce of the mother colony.

Question 22

Dependent dispersal and founding -why may a mother queen be discarded

Answer 22

The mother queen may be discarded in favor of sister queens in all newly fissioned colonies, if the mother queen’s reproductive dominance is declining

Question 23

Group establishment of societies - dominance

Answer 23

• For independently founded societies
• dominance — in the form of asymmetry of power over offspring — is essentially universal in coercing offspring to establish the society.

Question 24

group establishment of societies - what does dominance suppress

Answer 24

• both opportunity to act on reproductive conflict and reproductive capacity
• behavioral and physiological suppression

Question 25

group establishment of societies - dominance is typically in what form

Answer 25

• Dominance is physical in most cases
• may also be chemical (pheromonal) in social arthropods

Question 26

group establishment of societies - coercion via food supply results in what

Answer 26

• present in complex eusocial societies
• results in smaller individuals with permanently reduced reproductive capacity — workers are coerced (underfed) individuals.

Question 27

group establishment of societies - what can independent dispersal with cooperative founding result in

Answer 27

the most intense coercion in early establishment of the societies.

Question 28

group establishment of societies - independent dispersal with cooperative founding results in a context with maximized conflict — Why?

Answer 28

Non-kin individuals compete over limited reproductive opportunity.

Question 29

societies with reproductive division of labor have a distinct growth phase after establishment and before reproduction, when only __________________________________

Answer 29

non-reproductive group members are added.

Question 30

a societies successful growth phase depends on what

Answer 30

continued coercion by the reproductive individual

Question 31

growth of societies - the _______________________________ dictates the _____________________________ — how quickly the society can get to the reproductive phase.

Answer 31

• degree of success with the coercion
• efficiency of the growth phase

Question 32

In addition to ____________________ by the reproductive and ______________ by the workers facilitates stability during the growth phase.

Answer 32

• dominance, punishment
• policing

Question 33

reproductive phase - switch to the reproductive phase is typically what

Answer 33

a seasonal switch in both annual (yearly) and perennial (longer than a year) societies

Question 34

Perennial colonies may be in the __________________________ before they reach reproductive maturity.

Answer 34

growth phase for multiple years

Question 35

Reproductive maturity may signal what

Answer 35

• it may signal the colony’s only reproductive burst
• or the first reproductive phase that is then cycled annually with growth

Question 36

The ______________________ often intensifies conflict over reproduction

Answer 36

switch to a reproductive phase

Question 37

The switch to a reproductive phase often intensifies conflict over reproduction. Why?

Answer 37

Reproductive opportunity is “temporally compressed”

Question 38

what does a “temporal compression” do to a society

Answer 38

making window of reproductive opportunity narrower and pressure on reproductive individuals more intense.

Question 39

temporal compression - mammal societies

Answer 39

cycling female receptiveness causes escalation of male conflict over reproduction.

Question 40

temporal compression - annual arthropod societies

Answer 40

reproductive phase can cause destabilization and eventual collapse

Question 41

temporal compression - fission societies

Answer 41

weakening mother queen can be rejected and abandoned, with daughter colonies both led by new sister queens.