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Available kin recognition cues may explain why wasp behavior reflects relatedness to nest mates
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 20:15 authored by Ellouise Leadbeater, Leonardo Dapporto, Stefano Turillazzi, Jeremy FieldRelatedness is predicted to be a key determinant of cooperative behavior, but kin discrimination within social insect colonies is surprisingly rare. A lack of reliable cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) cues is thought to be responsible, but here we show that in a high-profile paper wasp model, kin recognition cues are available for some individuals that found nests with nonrelatives. Thus, unrelated Polistes dominulus helpers could potentially recognize themselves as such. On this basis, we reanalyzed a behavioral data set to investigate whether foraging effort, defense contributions and aggression toward nest mates might thus reflect CHC profiles. Both foraging behavior and aggression varied with genetic relatedness, but genetic relatedness itself was a better predictor of this variation than differences in CHC profiles. We propose that wasps use specific components of the CHC profile, the identity of which is as yet unknown, to identify relatives among nest mates. Our data provide the first evidence of within-nest kin discrimination in primitively eusocial wasps but leave open the question of which cues are responsible.
History
Publication status
- Published
Journal
Behavioral EcologyISSN
1045-2249Publisher
Oxford University PressExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
25Page range
344-351Department affiliated with
- Evolution, Behaviour and Environment Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2015-03-09Usage metrics
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