| Date | 24/05/2012 |
| Speaker | Abraham Hefetz |
| Title | Social conflicts and their resolution – the case of bumble bees |
| Place | Salon de Actos CABIMER |
| Summary | A hallmark of social Hymenoptera is reproductive division of labor whereby one or a few individuals (queens) reproduce and other members of the society act as sterile helpers (workers). However, workers are often not irreversibly sterile and can still produce males, thus are in conflict with the queen over male production. In the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris, the colony goes through two distinct phases; the social phase where workers harmoniously cooperate with the queen in brood rearing; and the competition phase when workers aggressively compete with the queen and among them over male reproduction. This conflict is regulated as well as mediated by pheromones. I will describe the behavioral and pheromonal means by which the conflict is managed, its physiological consequences and how it affects the fitness of both the queen and workers. |