
The cost of cheating
They didn't cheat. The poor little buggers were modified against their own judgement and forced into a combat they hadn't decided. They then found themselves on the wrong end of anti-cheating enforcement. It may have been done in the name of science, but I don't see that the issue was properly thought through.
Neither do I see that the conclusion is correct. There are animals that cheat. Find some of those and examine what the cheating does to them, instead of taking living beings that don't and forcing an unnatural situation on them.
Who's to say that cheaters are being punished ? Why not say that victorious paper wasp queens decide to go the extra mile when beating on an opponent that they thought was tougher, but actually isn't ? What about the euphoria of victory ?
I do not approve of this study. I do not feel that it was justified, and I do not agree on the conclusion.