Nice to kin and nasty to non-kin: revisiting Hamilton's early insights on eusociality

Boomsma, Jacobus J.; d’Ettorre, Patrizia

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0444

Cited by 31 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Insects are no exception (Holman et al 2013c). Surprisingly, however, since Greenberg's (1979) pioneering work on the primitively eusocial sweat bee Lasioglossum zephyrum, showing that guards selectively block the entry of conspecifics to the nest based on fine scale levels of relatedness, accurate kin recognition has remained difficult to demonstrate in insect societies (Boomsma and d'Ettorre 2013;Breed 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More accurate (within-colony) recognition seems to be absent or at least hard to detect (Tarpy et al 2004;Boomsma and d'Ettorre 2013; but see Arnold et al 1996;Nehring et al 2011;Helanterä et al 2013;Leadbeater et al 2014). The prevailing hypothesis is that accurate kin recognition is selected against to reduce costly conflicts over reproduction and resource allocation that would arise from nepotistic behavior favoring more related nestmates (Keller 1997;Boomsma et al 2003;Ratnieks et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kin discrimination increases with odor distance in the German cockroach

Lihoreau

Rivault

Zweden

2016

BEHECO

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Kin recognition mediates altruistic behavior and inbreeding avoidance in many animal societies. So far, evidence for accurate kin recognition, when individuals distinguish fine scale differences in genetic relatedness, in social insects is mixed. Although this ability should be counter selected to reduce risks of nepotism in eusocial colonies, accurate kin recognition may be beneficial in less integrated societies where genetic conflicts are reduced. Here we show that gregarious cockroaches Blattella germanica discriminate multiple levels of relatedness and identify inherited cuticular odors as potential kin recognition cues. When given a choice between aggregation sites containing either full siblings or less related conspecifics, cockroaches showed an increasing preference for resting with full siblings with increasing genetic distance between stimuli groups, from 50% of choices in the presence of half siblings or cousins, to 60.7% with less related cockroaches from the same strain, and 72.9% with cockroaches from a different strain. Examination of the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of 288 nymphs and their 54 parents revealed that the chemical distance between cockroaches was negatively correlated to their relatedness. Using a Bayesian animal model approach for quantitative genetic analyses, we identified several highly heritable methyl-branched alkanes as good candidates for kin recognition cues. Our results suggest that kin recognition is based on genetically inherited odors in this gregarious insect and highlight mechanistic similarities with nestmate recognition in eusocial species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kin discrimination increases with odor distance in the German cockroach

Lihoreau

Rivault

Zweden

2016

BEHECO

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“…rather than kin per se (Nonacs 2011;Boomsma and Ettorre 2013). This is a simple classification, in which individuals are classified as either belonging or not belonging to the membership group and, in the former case, are treated as related individuals (Tarpy et al 2004;Breed 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproduction of rebel workers in honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies

2017

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-The honeybee is one of several eusocial species in which the queen is typically the only reproductive member of the colony; worker reproduction is mostly restricted to queenless colonies. Because workers cannot mate, they lay unfertilized eggs, which develop into males. A recent study showed that in queenless colonies, which arise after swarming, worker larvae develop into rebel workers that have greater reproductive potential than do workers reared in queenright colonies, as measured by the number of ovarioles and degree of ovary activation. However, there was no evidence that rebels had an opportunity to produce male offspring. Here, we show for the first time that rebel workers not only activate their ovaries but also produce significantly more male offspring in queenright colonies than do normal workers. Moreover, our results show that the level of rebel reproduction in queenright colonies is similar to the reproduction of normal workers in queenless colonies. This finding suggests that the ultimate factor favouring the evolution of the rebel strategy is the decrease in relatedness between the old-generation workers and the new queen's offspring that occurs after queen exchange at swarming.Apis mellifera / rebel workers / worker reproduction / kin selection

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“…Male birds, for example, are generally unable to discriminate between their own offspring and those fathered by other males, even when the risk of extra-pair paternity is high (Kempenaers and Sheldon 1996). Kin discrimination is also rare in eusocial insects: individuals typically distinguish between nestmates and non-nestmates, but not between relatives and nonrelatives within the same colony (Atkinson et al 2008;Boomsma and d'Ettore 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social living without kin discrimination: experimental evidence from a communally breeding bird

Riehl

Strong

2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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In many cooperative animal societies, individuals can recognize their relatives and preferentially direct helping behaviors towards them. However, the ability to learn kin recognition cues may be constrained in societies with low relatedness, since group membership alone is not a reliable proxy for kinship. Here, we examine kin discrimination in the greater ani (Crotophaga major), a communally nesting bird in which several unrelated males and females reproduce in a single, shared nest and provide parental care to the mixed clutch of young. Each adult, therefore, is closely related to some nestlings in the clutch and unrelated to others. Food is limited and starvation is a significant cause of nestling mortality, suggesting that adults should increase their fitness by preferentially feeding their own offspring in the mixed clutch. To test this hypothesis, we cross-fostered broods of nestlings between pairs of nests, such that none of the nestlings in the manipulated nests were related to any of the adults feeding them. We found no evidence that adult greater anis discriminate between their own and unrelated nestlings: adults at cross-fostered groups fed nestlings at the same rates as adults at control (sham-manipulated) nests, and rates of nestling starvation were equal at cross-fostered and control nests. These results suggest that adult greater anis do not recognize their own nestlings, and they are consistent with the hypothesis that genetically encoded markers for kin recognition are rare in birds.

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Nice to kin and nasty to non-kin: revisiting Hamilton's early insights on eusociality

Cited by 31 publications

References 31 publications

Kin discrimination increases with odor distance in the German cockroach

Kin discrimination increases with odor distance in the German cockroach

Reproduction of rebel workers in honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies

Social living without kin discrimination: experimental evidence from a communally breeding bird

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