RFID Lowdown:Stirring up a Wasp’s Nest with RFID

-- Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer

You know people are really passionate about what they do when they catch wasps, tag them with RFID, and then announce that the workers of each nest “visit” relatives in neighboring nests and help baby-sit their young ones. The study, headed by Dr. Seirian Sumner of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), proved that the wasps were trying to pass on their genes indirectly.

Worker wasps do not reproduce directly, but share genes with relatives, and by raising them, can pass on their genes and keep the line from dying out. The theory reinforces the age-old belief that all creatures are obsessed with the continuation of their bloodlines.

http://www.rfidlowdown.com/2007/02/stirring_up_a_w.html