Publications by authors named "Jordan D Hampton"
Reproductive conflicts are common in insect societies where helping castes retain reproductive potential. One of the mechanisms regulating these conflicts is policing, a coercive behaviour that reduces direct reproduction by other individuals. In eusocial Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps), workers or the queen act aggressively towards fertile workers, or destroy their eggs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSex-specific inhibition and stimulation of worker-reproductive transition in a termite.
Naturwissenschaften
September 2017
Article Synopsis
- - Termites exhibit phenotypic plasticity in their development, leading to a caste system where reproductive roles can change based on environmental factors rather than strict dominance by queens, like in some bees and ants.
- - The study focused on the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, proposing that neotenic reproductives (derived from sterile individuals) influence whether workers become reproductives in a sex-specific way.
- - Findings showed that neotenics inhibit same-sex workers from becoming reproductives but encourage opposite-sex workers to transition, demonstrating complex regulatory mechanisms that affect termite social structure and reproductive roles.