Bald-faced hornet to laying eggs while the workers take over all other necessary housekeeping tasks. At some point, sometime before the midpoint of colony life, the colony will begin to invest energy in producing reproductives as well. This marks the transition into the reproductive stage. There is an extensive time period where both workers and reproductives are raised. Production of both castes limits the size of the work force. However, an early switching time is highly adaptive for social wasp colonies in limiting the risk of total loss. In a sampling of 50 colonies taken in Maryland in 1977, workers were produced
Androctonus australis hector insect toxin be reduced 44-98% by creating transgenic cotton crops which express the "AaHIT" gene. Another example in which AaHIT can be used as an insecticide is via baculoviruses. Baculoviruses are themselves insect-specific viruses; they can be potentiated if they express the "AaHIT" gene. The potentiated viruses kill the insects faster, resulting in less damage to the crops. Androctonus australis hector insect toxin "Androctonus australis hector" insect toxin also known as AaHIT is a scorpion toxin which affects voltage-gated sodium channels. Four different insect toxins, namely AaHIT1, AaHIT2, AaHIT4 and AaHIT5, can be distinguished. It targets insects, except AaHIT4, which is also