bees foraged nectar. The waggle dance thus guides other bees to the location of highly productive flowers. In some species, for instance the forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria), foraging behaviors change depending on food source. On less favorable food sources, caterpillar groups tend to splinter, thereby potentially increasing the risk for predation, but increasing the potential of finding a more favorable food source. Increased defense from predators Another advantage of living in a group is seen in many prey species in their ability to increase defenses against predatory animals. A way that a group may increase its defenses against predators is through the ‘many-eyes effect’. This effect states that larger groups of animals are better at detecting predators compared to smaller groups. This allows the individuals within a group to more effectively identify predators, allowing these individuals to flee or adopt postures to alert the predators that their presence is known. An example can be seen in a study conducted by Siegfried and Underhill (1975) on laughing doves, in which large groups react to a mock-predator much more rapidly than smaller groups. Another way in which a group may have decreased risk of predation is through the dilution effect. The dilution effect shows the idea that an individual in a large group will have a reduced risk of predation compared to an individual in a small group or a solitary individual. Hence the risk is ‘diluted’ among the other members in a group. It is important to note however; this effect only occurs where predators are unable to capture all individuals in a group. For example, a flock of birds preying on a large group of caterpillars will not have any dilution effect, as these birds can rapidly consume all caterpillars at once. All individuals in a large group however, may not benefit from the dilution effect, and thus the selfish herd theory was developed. The selfish herd theory states that individuals in the periphery of a group is more likely to be preyed upon than those in the center of the group Breeding It is hypothesized that reproductive success of a female is determined by the number of eggs she can produce, while reproductive success of a male is determined by the number of females he mates with. Furthermore, according to Bateman's principle, it is expected that females of a population will select mates that result in the best