Worker Wasps Sneak Out to Lay Their Eggs in Neighboring Nests

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.

Read the full article in Smithsonian.