@article {9385,
	title = {Costs of delayed dispersal and alloparental care in the fungus-cultivating ambrosia beetle Xyleborus affinis Eichhoff (Scolytinae: Curculionidae)},
	journal = {Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology},
	volume = {65},
	number = {9},
	year = {2011},
	month = {Sep},
	pages = {1753-1761},
	abstract = {Body reserves may determine the reproductive output of animals, depending on their resource allocation strategy. In insects, an accumulation of reserves for reproduction is often obtained before dispersal by pre-emergence (or maturation) feeding. This has been assumed to be an important cause of delayed dispersal from the natal nest in scolytine beetles. In the cooperatively breeding ambrosia beetles, this is of special interest because in this group delayed dispersal could serve two alternative purposes: "selfish" maturation feeding or "altruistic" alloparental care. To distinguish between these two possibilities, we have experimentally studied the effect of delayed dispersal on future reproductive output in the xyleborine ambrosia beetle Xyleborus affinis. Females experimentally induced to disperse and delayed dispersing females did not differ in their body condition at dispersal and in their founding success afterwards, which indicates that females disperse independently of condition, and staying adult females are fully mature and would be able to breed. However, induced dispersers produced more offspring than delayed dispersers within a test period of 40 days. This suggests that delayed dispersal comes at a cost to females, which may result primarily from alloparental care and leads to a reduced reproductive output. Alternatively, females might have reproduced prior to dispersal. This is unlikely, however, for the majority of dispersing females because of the small numbers of offspring present in the gallery when females dispersed, suggesting that mainly the foundress had reproduced. In addition, "gallery of origin" was a strong predictor of the reproductive success of females, which may reflect variation in the microbial complex transmitted vertically from the natal nest to the daughter colony, or variation of genetic quality. These results have important implications for the understanding of proximate mechanisms selecting for philopatry and alloparental care in highly social ambrosia beetles and other cooperatively breeding arthropods.},
	isbn = {0340-5443},
	author = {Biedermann, Peter H. W. and Klepzig, Kier D. and Taborsky, Michael}
}
@article {9386,
	title = {Female dispersal and reproduction in the ambrosia beetle Xyleborinus saxesenii Ratzeburg (Coleoptera; Scolytinae)},
	journal = {Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Allgemeine und Angewandte Entomologie},
	volume = {18},
	year = {2012},
	month = {April},
	pages = {231-235},
	isbn = {0344-9084},
	author = {Biedermann, Peter H. W. and Peer, Katharina and Taborsky, Michael}
}
@article {9383,
	title = {Fungus cultivation by ambrosia beetles: behavior and laboratory breeding success in three xyleborine species},
	journal = {Environmental Entomology},
	volume = {38},
	number = {4},
	year = {2009},
	month = {August},
	pages = {1096-1105},
	abstract = {Fungus cultivation by ambrosia beetles is one of the four independently evolved cases of agriculture known in animals. Such cultivation is most advanced in the highly social subtribe Xyleborina (Scolytinae), which is characterized by haplodiploidy and extreme levels of inbreeding. Despite their ubiquity in forests worldwide, the behavior of these beetles remains poorly understood. This may be in part because of their cryptic life habits within the wood of trees. Here we present data obtained by varying a laboratory breeding technique based on artificial medium inside glass tubes, which enables behavioral observations. We studied species of the three most widespread genera of Xyleborina in the temperate zone: Xyleborus, Xyleborinus, and Xylosandrus. We raised several generations of each species with good breeding success in two types of media. The proportion of females of Xyleborinus saxesenii Ratzeburg producing offspring within 40 d depended significantly on founder female origin, which shows a transgenerational effect. Labor-intensive microbial sterilization techniques did not increase females{\textquoteright} breeding success relative to a group of females shortly treated with ethanol. Gallery productivity measured as the mean number of mature offspring produced after 40 d varied between species and was weakly affected by the type of medium used and foundress origin (field or laboratory) in X. saxesenii, whereas different preparation mid sterilization techniques of the beetles had no effect. Behavioral observations showed the time course of different reproductive stages and enabled to obtain detailed behavioral inflammation in all species studied. We propose that the laboratory techniques we describe here are suited for extensive studies of sociality mid modes of agriculture in the xyleborine ambrosia beetles, which may yield important insights into the evolution of fungal agriculture and advanced social organization.},
	keywords = {Xyleborina},
	isbn = {0046-225X},
	author = {Biedermann, Peter H. W. and Klepzig, Kier D. and Taborsky, Michael}
}
