The altruism of insect workers has puzzled researchers for decades. Inclusive fitness theory
suggests that high relatedness has been key in promoting such altruism. Recent theory …

In eusocial organisms, some individuals specialize in reproduction and others in altruistic
hel**. The evolution of eusociality is, therefore, also the evolution of remarkable …

Bees play a key role in ecosystem services as the main pollinators of numerous flowering
plants. Studying factors influencing their foraging behavior is relevant not only to understand …

Thelytoky, the asexual production of females, is rare in honey bees. However, it is ubiquitous
in workers of the Cape honey bee Apis mellifera capensis. Thelytoky allows some workers to …

The very diverse social systems of sweat bees make them interesting models to study social
evolution. Here we focus on the dispersal behaviour and social organization of Halictus …

Cooperative groups can increase fitness either by hel** kin or interacting with unlike
individuals to produce social heterosis. They cannot, however, simultaneously maximize …

Sweat bees (Halictidae) exhibit great interspecific and intraspecific diversity in their social
organisation, yet there is remarkably little information on the sociogenetic organisation of …

Insect societies are well known for their high degree of cooperation, but their colonies can
potentially be exploited by reproductive workers who lay unfertilized, male eggs, rather than …

Highlights•We demonstrate the occurrence of intraspecific queen parasitism using RFID
tags.•Solitary queens selectively seek out queenless colonies to reproduce in.•Guarding of …

1. Workers in several bee species travel to conspecific nests ('drifting'), enter them, and
produce male offspring inside them, so acting as intra‐specific social parasites. This adds a …