Polygyny in nature in the context of Northern house wren

In behavioral ecology, polyandry is a class of mating system where one female mates with several males in a breeding season. Polyandry is often compared to the polygyny system based on the cost and benefits incurred by members of each sex. Polygyny is where one male mates with several females in a breeding season (e.g., lions, deer, some primates, and many systems where there is an alpha male).A common example of polyandrous mating can be found in the field cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) of the insect order Orthoptera (containing crickets, grasshoppers, and groundhoppers). Polyandrous behavior is also prominent in many other insect species, including honeybees, the red flour beetle, the adzuki bean weevil, and the species of spider Stegodyphus lineatus. Polyandry also occurs in some mammals including primates such as marmosets and the marsupial genera Antechinus and bandicoots, and in around 1% of all bird species, such as jacanas and dunnocks, and infish such as pipefish.

Polybia sericea is a social, tropical wasp of the family Vespidae that can be found in South America. It founds its colonies by swarming migrations, and feeds on nectar and arthropods.

P. sericea is medium in size, and has a dark-colored body. The wasps build multitiered nests, and colony size can vary greatly between a few to a few thousand workers. Queens can be distinguished from workers by their greater body size and smaller head size. They tend to be polygynous, meaning that several egg-laying queens are within a nest, with the result that workers are generally less related to each other than in other eusocial species. Workers are responsible for hunting and foraging, while queens are responsible for laying eggs, and have the most developed ovaries. When hunting for prey, workers rely heavily on visual and olfactory cues. Prey include arthropods such as green and brown caterpillars.