Question 1

Polyandry is now known to
A) be widespread across taxonomic groups.
B) increase access to critical resources for females.
C) increase access to male parental assistance.
D) all of the above.

Accepted Answer

Polyandry, the mating system where a female has multiple male partners, is observed across various taxonomic groups, helps females gain access to critical resources, and increases access to male parental assistance, making all of the provided options correct.

Question 2

Mattila and Seeley (2007) studied honey bees of the genus Apis, social insects that exhibit polyandry. They established colonies of honey bees that were either genetically diverse (the queen was artificially inseminated with sperm from 15 different drones) or genetically uniform (the queen was inseminated with the same volume of sperm but from a single drone). They found that genetically diverse colonies
A) failed to differ in any significant way from genetically uniform colonies.
B) weighed less than genetically uniform colonies.
C) were less efficient than uniform colonies at building the comb.
D) were more likely to survive the winter.

Accepted Answer

Genetically diverse colonies were found to be more likely to survive the winter, indicating that genetic diversity within a colony can confer advantages in terms of survival, possibly due to a wider range of genetic traits that can help the colony adapt to environmental challenges.

Quiz 15: Parental Care and Mating Systems

Polyandry is now known to