Editing Polygyny (section)

==In nature==
{{Main|Polygyny in animals}}

In zoology the term ''polygyny'' is used for a pattern of mating in which a male animal has more than one female mate in a breeding season.<ref name="dictionary.com">{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polygyny |title=Polygyny|work=dictionary.com|access-date=22 October 2015}}</ref> Males get their mates by defending the females directly or holding resources that the females want and need. This is known as resource defense polygyny and males of the bee species ''[[Anthidium manicatum]]'' (also known as the European wool carder bee) exhibit this behavior. Males claim patches of floral plants, ward off conspecific males and other resource competitors, and mate with the multiple females who forage in their territories.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lampert |first1=Kathrin P. |last2=Pasternak |first2=Vanessa |last3=Brand |first3=Philipp |last4=Tollrian |first4=Ralph |last5=Leese |first5=Florian |last6=Eltz |first6=Thomas |title='Late' male sperm precedence in polyandrous wool-carder bees and the evolution of male resource defence in Hymenoptera |journal=Animal Behaviour |date=April 2014 |volume=90 |pages=211–217 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.01.034 |s2cid=53157215 }}</ref> Males of many species attract females to their territory by either gathering in a lek or going out in search of dispersed females. In polygyny relationships in animals, the female is the one who provides most of the parental care for the offspring.<ref>Krebs, J. R., and N. B. Davies. An Introduction to Behavioral Ecology. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1989. Print.</ref>

Polygyny in eusocial insects means that some insects living in colonies have not only one queen, but several queens.<ref name="dictionary.com"/> Solitary species of insects take part in this practice in order to maximize their reproductive success of the widely dispersed females, such as the bee species ''[[Anthidium maculosum]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alcock |first1=John |title=Natural Selection and the Mating Systems of Solitary Bees |journal=American Scientist |date=1980 |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=146–153 |jstor=29773726 |bibcode=1980AmSci..68..146A }}</ref> Insects such as [[Red flour beetle#Polygamy|red flour beetles]] use polygyny to reduce inbreeding depression and thus maximize reproductive success.

There is '''primary polygyny''' (several queens join to found a new colony, but after the hatching of the first workers the queens fight each other until only one queen survives and the colony becomes monogynous) and '''secondary polygyny''' (a well-established colony continues to have several queens).