Is Her Majesty at home?
When Queen Elizabeth is at home in Buckingham Palace, tradition has it that the Royal Standard is raised, so that all may know the fact. Although it is not crucial for most of us to know whether Her Majesty is home, it is in social insects. Endler et al. have recently shown how an ant queen signals her presence to her remote workers: she marks her eggs. This is significant because it provides insight into how queens maintain reproductive monopoly within their colonies.
Beekman
Madeleine
M
School of Biological Sciences, A12, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.