Which of the following is a characteristic of a eusocial species? pairs of individuals building nest structures and caring for offspring together one adult and numerous juveniles living within a small group a reproductive dominance hierarchy made up of one or a few dominant individuals and the presence of sterile (non-reproductive) individuals non-overlapping generations of parents and offspring living together in the same group
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Step 1: Eusocial species are characterized by cooperative brood care, overlapping generations, and a reproductive division of labor. Show more…
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A group is said to be eusocial if a. the group's members interact intensively. b. some members produce many more offspring than others do. c. a dominance hierarchy exists among group members. d. young individuals remain in the group to help their parents rear other offspring. e. the group contains nonreproductive helper individuals.
A social group is said to be eusocial if a. group members interact very intensively. b. some group members produce many more offspring than others do. $c .$ a dominance hierarchy exists among group members. d. young individuals remain in the group to help their parents rear other offspring. e. the group contains nonreproductive helper individuals.
A group of paper wasp females (foundresses), Polistes spp., start a paper nest (described as an inverted umbrella) in the spring. These foundresses have all mated during the previous autumn, and all foundresses can lay both male and female eggs (wasps are Hymenoptera and have the haplodiploidy system of sex determination). However, one of these foundresses eventually becomes dominant and lays most of the fertilized eggs that develop into females. These female offspring (no males are born in the spring and early summer) remain at the nest to help (workers). The workers cannot produce fertilized eggs but can produce unfertilized eggs that develop into males. The subordinate foundresses and then the workers have many tasks including building the nest of paper (wasps chew plant fibers to form a pulp), foraging for food (spider and insect prey), feeding larvae, defending the nest from predators, parasitoids, and usurpers (other paper wasps) while the dominant female lays eggs and remains near the nest much like the queen of other eusocial insects. The risk (especially while defending the nest from predators) to the subordinate foundresses (and workers) is much greater than the risk to the dominant foundress (could be called the queen). The nest grows in size over the summer with more nest material, larvae, and workers added. It takes about two months to raise wasps from egg to adult, and a nest in temperate climates may have time for only one or two generations of workers. In the autumn, the brood produced by the queen includes non-working females and males. These are the reproductives that will be cared for by the workers until they fly off to locate mates. The mated females will hibernate through the winter and start a new nest in the spring. a) Polistes spp. are considered primitively eusocial. What characteristics make them eusocial? Why do you think they are considered primitively eusocial? b) Foundresses have a number of options in reproduction, but workers have fewer options (Nonacs and Reeve 1995). What conditions favor a multifoundress nest over a solitary nest (see Nonacs and Reeve 1995)? What are the benefits and costs to the subordinate foundresses and workers in remaining at the nest?
Madhur L.
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