How do fighting ability and nest value influence usurpation contests in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Polistes</Emphasis> wasps? |
| |
Authors: | Elizabeth A Tibbetts John R Shorter |
| |
Institution: | (1) Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048, USA;(2) Present address: Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2089, USA |
| |
Abstract: | Most research on animal contests has focused on the factors that influence the intensity and outcome of aggressive contests
within nonsocial species, while relatively little is known about contests in social taxa. Here, we examine contests among
queens of the social paper wasp, Polistes dominulus. Queens use multiple reproductive strategies, including nesting alone, usurping established colonies, and cooperatively joining
other queens. We stage contests between a nesting queen and a challenger to test how resource value (RV) and resource holding
potential (RHP) influence (a) who occupies the nest at the end of the contest and (b) the extent of conflict between the queen
and challenger. We found that RHP, as measured by individuals’ facial patterns and body size, influenced the outcome of the
contest. Challengers with high RHP were more likely to successfully usurp the nest than challengers with low RHP. Interestingly,
queens with relatively high RHP were more likely to form a cooperative association with the challenger than queens with lower
RHP, suggesting that queens may evict individuals that are an aggressive threat. RV influenced the intensity of conflict.
There was more aggressive conflict over large nests than over small nests. Overall, social taxa have complex contest dynamics
with important parallels to contests in nonsocial taxa. Studying contests in social taxa provides an important perspective
on the factors that influence individual decisions about conflict versus cooperation. |
| |
Keywords: | Eviction Dominance Badge-of-status Conventional signal Quality signal Conflict Cooperation |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|