The spectacular success of eusocial insects can be attributed to their sophisticated
cooperation, yet cooperation is conspicuously absent during colony foundation when …

Identifying the boundaries of a social insect colony is vital for properly understanding its
ecological function and evolution. Many species of ants are polydomous: colonies inhabit …

Key social traits, like queen number in eusocial insect colonies, have long been considered
plastic, but the recent finding that colony social organization is under strict genetic control in …

Relatedness underlies the evolution of reproductive altruism, yet eusocial insect colonies
occasionally accept unrelated reproductive queens. Why would workers living in colonies …

Due to its high biodiversity and its complex climatic and geological history, the Neotropical
region has caught the attention of evolutionary and conservation biologists. The Neotropics …

In the ectatommine ant Ectatomma tuberculatum, the visual appearance of queens changes
after mating and ovarian development in that their cuticle turns from shiny to matte. In this …

Nestmate recognition is a key feature of social insects, as it preserves colony integrity.
However, discrimination of non‐nestmates and nestmate recognition mechanisms are highly …

Climate has long been suggested to affect population genetic structures of eusocial insect
societies. For instance, H amilton [Journal of Theoretical Biology 7 (1964) 17] discusses …

Miniaturized queens, microgynes, are regarded as an alternative reproductive strategy
sparsely present through the ant world. The described roles of miniaturized queens include …

The question of the occurrence of nepotism in insect societies is central to inclusive fitness
theory. Here we investigated the existence of nepotism in the facultative polygynous ant …