One of the first hypotheses for the evolution of schreckstoff centered on W.D. Hamilton’s theory of kin selection.(Hamilton 1963, 1964a, 1964b). Under the theory of kin selection, the sender of the chemical alarm signal would be willing to incur the costs of sending this signal if the benefits to related individuals were sufficiently high. In a situation where the sender of the signal is paying great costs (i.e., it releases the chemical alarm signal because it has incurred potentially mortal mechanical damage), the benefits to closely related kin would have to be great. Under the framework of kin selection, behaviors that are seemingly detrimental to the sender are selected because they benefit individuals that are likely to share alleles by common descent. In this way, the frequency of the sender's alleles in the next generation is increased by their presence in successful kin.
