Phylogenetic relationships and the origin of social behavior in the Vespidae. The solitary and presocial Vespidae. The Stenogastrinae. Polistes. Belonogaster, Mischocyttarus, Parapolybia, and independent-founding Ropalidia. The swarm-founding Polistinae. Vespa and Provespa. Dolichovespula and Vespula. Reproductive competition during colony establishment. Evolution of queen number and queen control. Polyethism. Nourishment and the evolution of the social vespidae. Population genetic structure, relatedness, and breeding systems. Evolution of nest architecture. The nest as the locus of social life. The function and evolution of exocrine glands. Evolution of social behavior in sphecid wasps.

Mary Paetzel describes her intimate encounters with solitary wasps and bees, over a 30 year odyssey in the Siskiyou Mountains of SW Oregon. Mary describes the behaviors and lives of these tiny non-aggressive insects.

Biology of Fertilization, Volume 1: Model Systems and Oogenesis is the first in a three-volume series that gathers various lines of research about reproduction in general and fertilization in particular. Knowledge about cell biology, immunobiology, biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular genetics has progressed significantly beyond our understanding of some aspects of fertilization. Components of these constitute ""model systems."" The present volume includes reviews of such systems, some relatively simple model systems in lower organisms, sex-determining mechanisms, and oogenesis. The book contains 12 chapters organized into two sections. Section I includes studies on evolution, reproductive success, and immortality of the germ line; the structures and mechanisms involved in fertilization problems; and fertilization in Paramecium. Section II on oogenesis includes studies on gamete differentiation; sex-determining role of the H-Y antigen in mammals and non-mammals; the mechanism of starfish oocyte maturation; meiotic arrest in animal oocytes; and the mitotic and meiotic aspects of the mammalian germ cell life cycle.

Fossils document the existence of trees and wood-associated organisms from almost 400 million years ago, and today there are between 400,000 and 1 million wood-inhabiting species in the world. This is the first book to synthesise the natural history and conservation needs of wood-inhabiting organisms. Presenting a thorough introduction to biodiversity in decaying wood, the book studies the rich diversity of fungi, insects and vertebrates that depend upon dead wood. It describes the functional diversity of these organisms and their specific habitat requirements in terms of host trees, decay phases, tree dimensions, microhabitats and the surrounding environment. Recognising the threats posed by timber extraction and forest management, the authors also present management options for protecting and maintaining the diversity of these species in forests as well as in agricultural landscapes and urban parks.

This book analyzes for the first time how parasites shape the biology of social insects: the ants, wasps, bees, and termites. Paul Schmid-Hempel provides an overview of the existing knowledge of parasites in social insects. Current ideas are evaluated using a broad database, and the role of parasites for the evolution and maintenance of the social organization and biology of insects is carefully scrutinized. In addition, the author develops new insights, especially in his examination of the intricate relationships between parasites and their social hosts through the rigorous use of evolutionary and ecological concepts. Schmid-Hempel identifies gaps in our knowledge about parasites in social insects and uses models to develop new questions for future research. In addition, issues that are usually considered separately--such as division of labor, genetics, immunology, and epidemiology--are placed in a common framework to analyze two of the most successful adaptations of life: parasitism and sociality. This work will appeal not only to practitioners in the fields of behavioral ecology and sociobiology, but also to others interested in host-parasite relationships or in social organisms, such as apiculturists struggling to overcome the problems arising from mite infestations of honeybee colonies.