Colony activity integration in primitively eusocial wasps: the role of the queen (Polistes fuscatus, Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hudson K. Reeve ◽  
George J. Gamboa
Keyword(s):  
Polistes Fuscatus ◽  
Primitively Eusocial Wasps ◽  
Activity Integration ◽  
Primitively Eusocial

Queen Regulation of Worker Foraging in Paper Wasps: a Social Feedback Control System (Polistes Fuscatus, Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Behaviour ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 102 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 147-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hudson K. Reeve ◽  
George J. Gamboa
Keyword(s):  
Feedback Control ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
Paper Wasps ◽  
Social Feedback ◽  
Polistes Fuscatus ◽  
Primitively Eusocial Wasp ◽  
The Social ◽  
Eusocial Wasp ◽  
Single Worker ◽  
Primitively Eusocial

AbstractWe examined the queen's role in regulation of worker foraging in small field colonies of the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes fuscatus (29 colonies; 148 h observation). Queen removal results in a significant reduction in worker departure rate. The placement of a cooled, inactive queen into her queenless nest produces a significantly greater reduction in worker departure rate than does queen removal, and the resumption of activity by an inactive queen causes a significant increase in worker departure rate. Removal or cooling of a single worker does not produce similar effects on worker foraging, suggesting that the queen is the central regulator of worker foraging in small P. fuscatus colonies. We present evidence that: (1) the queen's control of worker foraging is mediated primarily by her influence on worker nest activity, (2) queen aggression may be important in stimulating departures by workers with low tendencies to leave the nest (i.e., dominant workers), and (3) the magnitude of the queen's stimulatory influence on worker foraging is directly related to the number of workers on the nest. We integrate these results with evidence from our other studies of polistine colony dynamics in a feedback control model of the social regulation of foraging.

scholarly journals Do Primitively Eusocial Wasps Use Queen Pheromones to Regulate Reproduction? A Case Study of the Paper Wasp Polistes satan

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cintia A. Oi ◽  
Ricardo C. Oliveira ◽  
Jelle S. van Zweden ◽  
Sidnei Mateus ◽  
Jocelyn G. Millar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Paper Wasp ◽  
Queen Pheromones ◽  
Primitively Eusocial Wasps ◽  
Primitively Eusocial

scholarly journals We know that the wasps ‘know’: cryptic successors to the queen in Ropalidia marginata

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 634-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anindita Bhadra ◽  
Raghavendra Gadagkar
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Ovarian Development ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Ropalidia Marginata ◽  
Species Loss ◽  
Queen Pheromones ◽  
Honest Signals ◽  
Primitively Eusocial Wasps ◽  
Potential Queen ◽  
Primitively Eusocial

Unlike other primitively eusocial wasps, Ropalidia marginata colonies are usually headed by remarkably docile and behaviourally non-dominant queens who are nevertheless completely successful in maintaining reproductive monopoly. As in other species, loss of the queen results in one of the workers taking over as the next queen. But unlike in other species, here, the queen's successor cannot be predicted on the basis of dominance rank, other behaviours, age, body size or even ovarian development, in the presence of the former queen. But the swiftness with which one and only one individual becomes evident as the potential queen led us to suspect that there might be a designated successor to the queen known to the wasps, even though we cannot identify her in the queen's presence. Here, we present the results of experiments that support such a ‘cryptic successor’ hypothesis, and thereby lend credence to the idea that queen (and potential queen) pheromones act as honest signals of their fertility, in R. marginata .

scholarly journals Emergence of cooperation and division of labor in the primitively eusocial waspRopalidia marginata

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 756-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anindita Brahma ◽  
Souvik Mandal ◽  
Raghavendra Gadagkar
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Ropalidia Marginata ◽  
Dominance Behavior ◽  
Single Female ◽  
Strong Negative Correlation ◽  
Emergence Of Cooperation ◽  
Increase In Productivity ◽  
Primitively Eusocial Wasps ◽  
Primitively Eusocial

In most primitively eusocial wasps new nests are initiated by a single female or by small groups of females. To study the emergence of division of labor (DOL) among the nest foundresses and to determine its possible effect on nest productivity we maintained newly eclosed females ofRopalidia marginatain small boxes with one, two, or three nestmate wasps of the same age per box. Only one wasp developed her ovaries and laid eggs in each box, while the other wasp(s) built the nest, brought food, and fed larvae, demonstrating the spontaneous emergence of reproductive DOL in the presence of more than one wasp. In nests with three wasps there was also a strong negative correlation between intranidal and extranidal work performed by the two nonreproductive workers, suggesting the spontaneous emergence of nonreproductive DOL; such nonreproductive DOL was absent in nests with two wasps. Both reproductive and nonreproductive DOL were modulated by dominance behavior (DB). In nests with two wasps the egg layer showed significantly more DB than the non-egg layer before nest initiation; in nests with three wasps queens showed significantly more DB than intranidal workers, which in turn showed significantly more DB than extranidal workers. Productivities of nests (as measured by total brood on the day of eclosion of the first adult) initiated by one or two wasps were not different from each other but were significantly lower than that of three wasps. Thus, nonreproductive DOL, and not merely reproductive DOL, is necessary for increase in productivity.

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