The maternal care of offspring is one of the behavioural drivers that has led some bee species to have an ever-expanding social life over the history of evolution, new research out of York University has found.
By virtue of being in a social group, the genome itself may respond by selecting more social rather than non-social genes. The behaviour and social environment come first setting the stage for future molecular evolution.
In addition, the researchers have found that a similar genetic evolution happened independently in different species at different times, suggesting there is a unifying principle leading to the same social trait.
Read more at: York University
Ceratina_calcarata carpenter bee (Photo Credit: Associate Professor Sandra Rehan, York University)