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Extreme queen-worker dimorphism inRopalidia ignobilis, a small-colony wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

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Summary

Ropalidia ignobilis dwells in small colonies of 100 or fewer contemporaneous adults, founded by one or a few females. Variation in size is continuous when a number of colonies are combined, yet each colony produces females in two discrete morphological castes. Nest architecture shows that workers abruptly switch from producing small to large larvae. Large females apparently fulfill the role of the dominant reproductive, but small females are not obligatorily sterile. Castes differ in size, allometric relationships between body parts, number of hamuli per mm. wing length, and coloration in a fashion consistent with what is known for more advanced dimorphic species of social wasps. This dimorphism, rare in Polistinae and previously unknown in small-colony, independent-founding species, challenges our understanding of the evolution of advanced insect sociality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA

    J. W. Wenzel

  2. Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, 30602, Athens, GA, USA

    J. W. Wenzel

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Wenzel, J.W. Extreme queen-worker dimorphism inRopalidia ignobilis, a small-colony wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Ins. Soc 39, 31–43 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01240529

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