Image credit: Thomas Hinsche/imageBROKER/Corbis
By cadging a free ride for their offspring, female workers may boost their chances of passing on their genes
Cooperative insects like bees and wasps all pitch in for the good of the hive, raising the queen’s offspring without a thought toward producing their own, right? Not so fast—in the common wasp, about one percent of workers defect from their own hives to lay eggs in a foreign one.
