Limited social plasticity in the socially polymorphic sweat bee Lasioglossum calceatum.

ABSTRACT:

Abstract

Eusociality is characterised by a reproductive division of labour, where some individuals forgo direct reproduction to instead help raise kin. Socially polymorphic sweat bees are ideal models for addressing the mechanisms underlying the transition from solitary living to eusociality, because different individuals in the same species can express either eusocial or solitary behaviour. A key question is whether alternative social phenotypes represent environmentally induced plasticity or predominantly genetic differentiation between populations. In this paper, we focus on the sweat bee Lasioglossum calceatum, in which northern or high-altitude populations are solitary, whereas more southern or low-altitude populations are typically eusocial. To test whether social phen

SUBMITTER: Davison PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5845590 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature