Editing Behavioral ecology (section)

====Genetic cues====
One possible method of kin selection is based on genetic cues that can be recognized phenotypically.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Holmes |first1=Warren G. |last2=Sherman |first2=Paul W. |title=Kin recognition in animals |journal=American Scientist |date=January 1983 |volume=71 |issue=1 |page=46-55 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27851817}}</ref> Genetic recognition has been exemplified in a species that is usually not thought of as a social creature: [[amoebae]]. Social amoebae form fruiting bodies when starved for food. These amoebae preferentially formed slugs and fruiting bodies with members of their own lineage, which is clonally related.<ref name=Mehdiabadi>{{cite journal |author=Mehdiabadi, N. J. |author2=C. N. Jack |author3=T. T. Farnham |title=Kin preference in a social microbe|journal=Nature |year=2006 |volume=442 |pages=881–882 |doi=10.1038/442881a |pmid=16929288 |issue=7105 |bibcode = 2006Natur.442..881M |s2cid=4335666|display-authors=etal}}</ref> The genetic cue comes from variable lag genes, which are involved in signaling and adhesion between cells.<ref name=Benabentos>{{cite journal |author=Benabentos, R. |author2=S. Hirose |author3=R. Sucgang |title=Polymorphic members of the ''lag''-gene family mediate kin discrimination in ''Dictyostelium'' |journal=Current Biology |year=2009| volume=19 |pages=567–572 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2009.02.037 |pmid=19285397 |issue=7 |pmc=2694408 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

Kin can also be recognized a genetically determined odor, as studied in the primitively social sweat bee, ''[[Lasioglossum zephyrus]]''. These bees can even recognize relatives they have never met and roughly determine relatedness.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Kin recognition in the sweat bee, ''Lasioglossum zephyrum'' |journal = Behavior Genetics|date = 1988-07-01|issn = 0001-8244|pages = 425–438|volume = 18|issue = 4|doi = 10.1007/BF01065512|pmid = 3190637|first = Les|last = Greenberg|s2cid = 44298800}}</ref> The Brazilian stingless bee ''[[Schwarziana quadripunctata]]'' uses a distinct combination of chemical [[hydrocarbon]]s to recognize and locate kin.  Each chemical odor, emitted from the organism's [[epicuticle]]s, is unique and varies according to age, sex, location, and hierarchical position.<ref name=nunes09>{{cite journal |last1=Nunes |first1=T. M. |last2=Turatti |first2=I. C. C.|last3=Mateus |first3=S. |last4=Nascimento |first4=F. S. |last5=Lopes |first5=N. P. |last6=Zucchi |first6=R. |year=2009|title=Cuticular hydrocarbons in the stingless bee ''Schwarziana quadripunctata'' (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini): Differences between colonies, castes and age |journal=Genetics and Molecular Research |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=589–595 |doi=10.4238/vol8-2kerr012 |pmid=19551647|doi-access=free }}</ref> Similarly, individuals of the stingless bee species ''[[Trigona fulviventris]]'' can distinguish kin from non-kin through recognition of a number of compounds, including hydrocarbons and fatty acids that are present in their wax and floral oils from plants used to construct their nests.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Nestmate recognition cues in a stingless bee, ''Trigona fulviventris'' |last1 = Buchwald|first1 = Robert|date = 2005 |journal = Animal Behaviour|doi = 10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.03.017|last2 = Breed|first2 = Michael D. |issue = 6 |volume = 70|pages = 1331–1337|s2cid = 53147658}}</ref> In the species, ''[[Osmia rufa]],'' kin selection has also been associated with mating selection. Females, specifically, select males for mating with whom they are genetically more related to.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Open-cell parasitism shapes maternal investment patterns in the red mason bee ''Osmia rufa'' |journal = Behavioral Ecology|date = 2006-09-01|issn = 1045-2249 |pages = 839–848|volume = 17|issue = 5|doi = 10.1093/beheco/arl017|first = Karsten|last = Seidelmann|doi-access = free}}</ref>

Some animals recognize kin by "self-referencing:" comparing the phenotypes of others to themselves.  For example, Belding's ground squirrels recognize relatives by comparing their own odor and those of littermates with odors of squirrels they encounter.<ref name="Holmes">{{cite journal |last1=Holmes |first1=Warren G. |last2=Sherman |first2=Paul W. |title=The ontogeny of kin recognition in two species of ground squirrels |journal=American Zoologist |date=August 1982 |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=491-517 |doi=10.1093/icb/22.3.491}}</ref> These phenotypes come in the form of scent from dorsal and anal glands, and each animal has its own repertoire of odors. If another individual's odor phenotype matches itself closely enough, it is likely a relative. Laboratory tests<ref name="Holmes" /> indicate that females can discriminate between kin and nonkin, close and distant relatives and, within-litters, between full-siblings and maternal half-siblings. Field observations<ref>{{cite book |last=Sherman |first=Paul W. |editor-last1=Barlow |editor-first1=George W. |editor-last2=Silverberg |editor-first2=James |editor-last3=Livingstone |editor-first3=Frank B. |title=Sociobiology:Beyond Nature/Nurture? |publisher=Westview Press |date=June 1980 |pages=505-544 |chapter=Chapter 20: The limits of ground squirrel nepotism |isbn=978-0891583721}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Sherman |first1= P.W. |date= July 1981 |title= Kinship, demography, and Belding's ground squirrel nepotism |journal= Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |volume= 8 |issue= 4 |pages= 251–259 |doi= 10.1007/BF00299523|s2cid= 7935876 }}</ref> confirm that females cooperate with their closest kin more than with distant kin, and behave aggressively toward nonrelatives.<ref name="Holmes" /> Golden hamsters<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mateo |first1=Jill M. |last2=Johnston |first2=Robert E. |title=Kin recognition and the "armpit effect": evidence of self-referent phenotype matching |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B |date=April 2000 |volume=267 |issue=1444 |page=695-700 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2000.1058|pmc=1690595 }}</ref> and bluegill sunfish<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Neff |first1=Bryan D. |last2=Sherman |first2=Paul W. |title=In vitro fertilization reveals offspring recognition via self-referencing in a fish with paternal care and cuckoldry |journal=Ethology |date=March 2005 |volume=111 |issue=4 |pages=425-438 |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.2005.01075.x}}</ref> also can use themselves as
referents to discriminate close relatives from distant kin and nonkin.