Social insects are remarkable for their efficient social organization which
is achieved through a fine balance between cooperation and conflict. The
cooperative social unit, a colony, is put to a crisis when the queen is
lost, which is rescued only after a new queen takes over the colony. My
thesis is focused on the potential reproductive conflicts associated with
queen succession in the primitively social wasp *Ropalidia marginata*, and
proximate behavioural mechanisms contributing towards resolution of this
conflict. We started by characterizing the natural phenomenon and then went
on to experimentally induce conflict to create situations that might lead
to the queen succession in these colonies. We could show that, although
there is a lack of apparent conflict over reproduction, there is underlying
reproductive conflict which can be uncovered by careful experimental
manipulation, and can be resolved by the colony members. This work has
provided valuable insights to understand the maintenance of functional
integrity of the colony organization in this species.