Female Australian Dunatothrips [small, sap-sucking insects] create tent-like structures on the surface of leaves to protect themselves and their eggs and larvae from desiccation in the arid Australian climate. Bono and Crespi compared survival and reproduction of thrips that founded structures alone with those in groups of two or more individuals. They found that although per capita egg production fell with increasing group size, foundresses were more likely to survive and lay eggs in groups than when alone. Several sides of other species of nest-building insects have concluded that foundress associations are beneficial to all parties. It is likely that the relative success of groups is at least in part accounted for by a reduction of energy use in the modification of a shared nest.