Hormones play a role in the establishment of dominance hierarchies among P. gallicus. Dominant females tend to have more developed ovaries due to higher activity levels in their endocrine systems. A larger corpora allata also influences the determination of dominance. A higher reproductive capacity is indicative of the dominant female. Reproductive suppression After a hierarchy is established, the dominant wasp remains the sole reproducer in the colony due to the inhibition of endocrine activity within the subordinate wasps. Various factors contribute to the possibility of inhibition, which might also lead to differences in endocrine activity. If subordinates happen to lay eggs after the hierarchy is formed, the dominant foundress will eat the eggs to ensure all laid eggs are of her own genes. Kin recognition and conflict P. gallicus recognize their kin through Van der Vecht (VVS) organ secretions, which include a mixture of hydrocarbons that differ both between colonies and between the foundresses versus workers of a single colony. Workers can thus distinguish these differences, both to recognize their own foundress and to recognize wasps from another colony. In the case of alien wasps, workers may respond to these VVS with varying degrees of aggressiveness. Foundresses are also hypothesized to use peak activity in this organ as a repellant to defend the nest before it is populated. These VVS deposits on the nest may additionally indicate ownership to the queen and can inhibit ovarian development in the workers within the colony to prevent competition. Colonies of P. gallicus typically have one foundress that produces offspring, though all females, including workers, are capable of producing male offspring. This creates a trade-off in terms of reproductive activity between the foundress and her workers. The relatedness of a foundress to her son is 1/2 as compared to a worker to her brother of 1/4. In the case of a foundress that only mated once, a worker's relatedness to a fellow worker's male offspring is 3/8. This closer relatedness to the workers means that workers may favor handling male production instead of the foundress. However, in the case of a foundress that mated more than once, the workers relatedness to a male produced by the foundress instead will be less than that of fellow workers. Because workers favor situations where the male brood are more closely related to them, workers may attempt to prevent other workers from laying eggs if the foundress has