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Traditionally, social insect societies were regarded as cooperative with the workers acting for the "good of the colony". However, it is now widely understood that the non-clonal kin structure of insect societies, and in fact all social animals, results in potential conflict among individuals or groups of individuals over colony reproduction. In particular, different individuals or groups of individuals have different optima with respect to colony reproduction and their actions sometimes reflect interests at variance with others. The existence of different optima leads to conflicts between opposing parties, the outcome of which could either be a compromise or a winning and loosing party. Power, the ability to do or act, will to a large extent determine which party will achieve its optimum. Power is often not equally shared among different parties. For example, in slave making ants workers of a different species rear the brood giving the queen full control. Queens are also in control when they are indispensable such as in early colony development in annual societies.

 I am interested in the factors that affect power in situations were parties of interest are in conflict over reproduction. How do different reproductive contexts (sex allocation, male parentage etc.) and different parties of interest come into play? What are the roles of information, dispensability, and physical strength? Why are true queens important in social insects?