Social insects may not love their fellow bugs as much as once
believed. "Altruistic" insects such as ants and bees are thought
to sacrifice their own chance to reproduce in the name of the
greater good - that way, their genes are passed down through the
community's queen. But new research published in the journal
Science explains why certain wasps, rather than set out to
establish their own colony, choose to serve another queen
completely unrelated to them. They do so for purely selfish
reasons - because it gives them a shot at the throne in an
already thriving hive. Evolutionary biologist Ellouise
Leadbeater of the University of Sussex in Britain, the study's
lead author, discusses the research and how it reinforces our
understanding of altruism. Q: What's so special about wasps like
Polistes dominulus? A: This particular species is kind of a
model of the evolution of altruism. Their behavior is generally
explained by something called inclusive fitness theory: You
devote your time and resources to helping ot