M. Kim Fondrk

TL;DR: It is shown by use of RNA interference that vitellogenin gene activity paces onset of foraging behavior, primes bees for specialized foraging tasks, and influences worker longevity, supporting the view that the worker specializations that characterize hymenopteran sociality evolved through co-option of reproductive regulatory pathways.

TL;DR: Results establish csd as a primary signal that governs sexual development by its allelic composition, andStructural similarity of csd with tra genes of Dipteran insects suggests some functional relation of what would otherwise appear to be unrelated sex-determination mechanisms.

TL;DR: It is document that the pleiotropic genetic network that controls foraging behavior in functionally sterile honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) has a reproductive component and suggests that exploitation of this ground plan plays a fundamental role in the evolution of social insect societies.

TL;DR: The results present the first evidence for a role of TOR in diphenic development, and suggest that adoption of this ancestral nutrient-sensing cascade is one evolutionary pathway for morphological caste differentiation in social insects.

TL;DR: It is shown that division of foraging labour among worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) is linked to the reproductive status of facultatively sterile females, identifying the evolutionary origin of a widely expressed social-insect behavioural syndrome and providing a direct demonstration of how variation in maternal reproductive traits gives rise to complex social behaviour in non-reproductive helpers.