Sibling cooperation in earwig families gives clues to early evolution of social behavior
Looking at the question of how social behavior has developed over the course of evolution, scientists from the universities in Mainz and Basel have gained new insights from the study of earwigs. "Young earwig offspring don't simply compete for food. Rather the siblings share what is available amongst themselves, especially when the mother is absent," explained Dr. Joël Meunier of the Evolutionary Biology section of the Institute of Zoology at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (JGU). The team of biologists from Mainz University and the University of Basel investigated the interactions between siblings of the European earwig (Forficula auricularia). To date, insects have been only little studied with regard to cooperative behavior between siblings, except in the case of eusocial species, such as bees and ants. The European earwig provides, as the research project shows, valuable clues to the origins of social behavior patterns.