Dispersal decisions and predispersal behavior in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Polistes</Emphasis> paper wasp ‘workers’ |
| |
Authors: | Elizabeth A Tibbetts |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 830 N. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048, USA |
| |
Abstract: | Social insects are popular models for studying the evolution of cooperation. Casteless taxa where individuals have the flexibility
to either nest alone or cooperate are particularly valuable for understanding the causes and consequences of cooperative behavior.
For example, some ‘workers’ from Polistes paper wasp nests disappear from their natal colony soon after pupal emergence and nest independently. However, little is
known about dispersal behavior. In this paper, I compare predispersal behavior of wasps who leave their natal colony soon
after emergence with behavior of individuals who remain on the natal colony as true workers. I found that P. dominulus females with short nest tenure behave much like gynes (reproductive-destined offspring produced at the end of the season),
as wasps with short nest tenure are behaviorally selfish while on the natal colony. They spend a smaller proportion of their
time foraging and a larger proportion of their time resting than workers with long nest tenure. In addition, I assessed the
factors that may favor early dispersal. Nest environment strongly influenced dispersal; large colonies had a smaller proportion
of females with short nest tenure. Queen turnover also increased dispersal behavior perhaps because queen turnover reduces
relatedness between a colony’s current and future offspring, thereby reducing the kin-selected benefits of cooperation. Therefore,
casteless social insects exhibit a surprising degree of reproductive flexibility. Individuals may use information about their
internal state and nest environment to optimize their behavioral strategies. |
| |
Keywords: | Cooperation Relatedness Ecological constraints Cooperative breeding Caste Plasticity |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|