Large societies of ants and humans have standing armies with professional soldiers, but smaller societies usually rely on conscription when they are threatened. Leaf-cutting ant societies of intermediate size have evolved the peculiar practice of turning daughter queens that failed to mate and disperse into life time nest-defenders, reminiscent of mythical female warriors whose normal

This press release is also available in Danish (på Dansk). In social insect colonies, workers generally cooperate within extended families consisting of full- and half-sisters. It has been suggested that they do not behave nepotistically, i.e. prefer to cooperate with full-sisters only, because they are not able to distinguish between half- and full sisters Actually,

Danish press release, also available in English. Hos sociale insekter, blandt andet hos myrer, har man hidtil antaget, at alle individer i en koloni samarbejder lige godt. Forskere på Københavns universitet og kolleger i Frankrig og Storbritannien har nu vist, at nepotisme måske også dyrkes blandt sociale insekter. Den harmoniske samfundsstruktur hos sociale insekter står