Repeated evolution of soldier sub-castes suggests parasitism drives social complexity in stingless bees

Although common in ants and termites, worker differentiation into physical castes is rare in social bees and unknown in wasps. Here, Grüter and colleagues find a guard caste in ten species of stingless bees and show that the evolution of the guard caste is associated with parasitization by robber be...

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Auteurs principaux: Christoph Grüter, Francisca H. I. D. Segers, Cristiano Menezes, Ayrton Vollet-Neto, Tiago Falcón, Lucas von Zuben, Márcia M. G. Bitondi, Fabio S. Nascimento, Eduardo A. B. Almeida
Format: article
Langue:EN
Publié: Nature Portfolio 2017
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Accès en ligne:https://doaj.org/article/91ad03c7847246bfaef692e9a245095d
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Résumé:Although common in ants and termites, worker differentiation into physical castes is rare in social bees and unknown in wasps. Here, Grüter and colleagues find a guard caste in ten species of stingless bees and show that the evolution of the guard caste is associated with parasitization by robber bees.