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Do parasites explain female promiscuity?
In bumblebee colonies allowed to forage in the wild, colonies with high genetic diversity among workers had fewer parasites and more offspring than did colonies of low genetic diversity.
References:
Baer, B., and P. Schmid-Hempel. 1999. Experimental variation in polyandry affects parasite loads and fitness in a bumble-bee. Nature 397(Jan. 14):151.
Further Readings:
Hamilton, W.D. 1987. Animal Societies: Theory and Facts, Y. Ito, J.L Brown, and J. Kikkawa, eds. Tokyo: Japan. Sci. Soc. Press.
Sherman, P.W., T.D. Secley, and H.K. Reeve. 1988. Parasites, pathogens, and polyandry in social Hymenoptera. American Naturalist 131:602.
Sources:
Paul Schmid-Hempel
ETH Zurich
ETH-Zentrum NW
CH 8003 Zurich
Switzerland
Web site: http://www.umnw.ethz.ch/eok/
From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 5, January 30, 1999, p. 78. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.
