No actual conflict over colony inheritance despite high potential conflict in the social wasp Polistes dominulus
AUTOR(ES)
Monnin, Thibaud
FONTE
The Royal Society
RESUMO
Social insect societies are outstanding examples of cooperation and conflict. Individuals work together, yet seek to increase their inclusive fitness at each others' expense. One such conflict is over colony inheritance, when a queen inherits the colony following the death of the previous queen. Colony inheritance is common in the social wasp Polistes dominulus, and it can have dramatic fitness consequences. The subordinate inheriting the colony is often unrelated to the initial foundress (alpha) and the workers, who therefore get zero inclusive fitness. Workers are capable of mating and reproducing, so that inheritance by a subordinate rather than by a related worker is surprising. Using patterns of egg-laying and egg destruction, we show in 32 laboratory colonies that, upon the removal of alpha, workers fully accepted a subordinate as the new breeder. This new alpha monopolized reproduction to the same extent as alpha, and there was no increase in reproduction by workers and other subordinates. Why workers accept a potentially unrelated subordinate as breeder rather than a full-sister worker is unclear. They may be constrained to do so, and they may seek fitness benefits by producing males later in the season or by absconding the nest.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2660987Documentos Relacionados
- Juvenile hormone, reproduction, and worker behavior in the neotropical social wasp Polistes canadensis
- Recognition of social parasites as nest-mates: adoption of colony-specific host cuticular odours by the paper wasp parasite Polistes sulcifer.
- Conflict over Male Parentage in Social Insects
- Colony cycle of the social wasp Mischocyttarus consimilis Zikán (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)
- Ultramorphological analysis of the venom glands and their histochemical relationship with the convoluted glands in the primitive social paper wasp Polistes versicolor (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)