Colony dynamics and conflict between queens and workers over the production of male brood are central issues in the study of social systems in the Hymenoptera (ants, wasps and bees). Success of workers (and of the queen) is heavily influenced by direct, worker reproduction. If colonies in a social species typically include workers that are reproducing directly, it is of great importance to be able to characterize those workers in both morphological and behavioral terms in order to understand the proximate mechanisms controlling worker egg laying. In order to do this it is necessary to unambiguously identify laying workers and also to clearly quantify the brood they produce. A molecular genetics technique, DNA "fingerprinting", can be used to obtain the necessary information. DNA "fingerprints" are individually specific patterns of DNA fragments that can be used to determine which female is the mother of any of the offspring produced by a colony. Comparison of these distinctive yet heritable DNA patterns ("fingerprints") among females and the offspring they jointly rear will be used to determine precisely which females are the mothers of which offspring. This information will be used in combination with behavioral and morphological data to investigate the proximate control of worker reproduction with the overall aim of understanding the evolution of social systems.
