Evolutionarily stable nesting strategy in a digger wasp.

Journal article

Two alternative "strategies" will not coexist in a population unless on average they are equally successful. The most likely way for such an equilibrium to be maintained is through something equivalent to frequency-dependent selection. Females of the digger wasp Sphex ichneumoneus (Sphecidae) nest in underground burrows. They usually dig and provision these by themselves but occasionally a nest is jointly occupied. The two wasps fight whenever they meet and in the end only one of the two fema...

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Authors: Brockmann, H; Grafen, A; Dawkins, R

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Journal of theoretical biology
• Volume: 77
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 473-496
• Publication date: 1979-04-01
• DOI: 10.1016/0022-5193(79)90021-3
• EISSN: 1095-8541
• ISSN: 0022-5193
• Language: English
• Keywords: Models, Biological; Wasps; Hymenoptera; Animals; Female; Male; Biological Evolution; Nesting Behavior