Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Polistes japonicus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) queens monopolize ovipositing but are not the most active aggressor in dominant-subordinate interactions

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Insectes Sociaux Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to elucidate the dominant–subordinate relationship between the foundress and workers, five colonies of the paper wasp Polistes japonicus were observed in a netted and covered cage located outdoors. The number of workers in each colony ranged from four to eight. Workers were divided into first and second broods. Abdominal wagging and ovipositing were performed almost exclusively by the foundress throughout colony development. However, an analysis of aggressive encounters indicated that although the foundress hardly received dominance behaviors (aggression) from workers, it lacked either partially or completely the following characteristics of the queen that are usually seen in paper-wasp colonies with independent-founding queens (except in one colony that produced no second brood): the queen being socially dominant over any worker (the queen had more wins than losses in one-on-one dominance contests with any worker), exhibiting the highest frequency of dominance behaviors, and directing dominance behaviors primarily toward the socially most-dominant worker. In particular, during the mixed-brood period (when all first- and second-brood workers were present on the nest) the foundress hardly exhibited dominance behaviors toward socially dominant workers (mainly second brood) but frequently directed dominance behaviors toward socially subordinate workers (mainly first brood). The foundress disappeared in two colonies before the reproductives emerged; in these colonies the socially most-dominant worker inherited the colony and laid many eggs. The frequency of abdominal wagging by these two foundresses decreased during colony development, while it did not in the other colonies. This suggests that abdominal wagging provides information about the vigor of the performer. The superseder was socially dominant over all other workers, but spent little time wagging its abdomen and allowed some workers to lay eggs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bhadra A., Iyer P.L., Sumana A., Deshpande S.A., Ghosh S. and Gadagkar R. 2007. How do workers of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata detect the presence of their queens? J. Theor. Biol. 246: 574-582

    Google Scholar 

  • Breed M.D. and Gamboa G.J. 1977. Behavioral control of workers by queens in primitively eusocial bees. Science 195: 694-696

    Google Scholar 

  • Bridge C. and Field J. 2007. Queuing for dominance: gerontocracy and queue-jumping in the hover wasp Liostenogaster flavolineata. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 61: 1253-1259

    Google Scholar 

  • Brillet C., Tian-Chansky S.S. and Le Conte Y. 1999. Abdominal waggings and variation of their rate of occurrence in the social wasp, Polistes dominulus (Christ) I. Quantitative analysis. J. Insect Behav. 12: 665-686

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruyndonckx N., Kardile S.P. and Gadagkar R. 2006. Dominance behavior and regulation of foraging in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata (Lep.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Behav. Proc. 72: 100-103

    Google Scholar 

  • Cant M.A., Llop J.B. and Field J. 2006. Individual variation in social aggression and the probability of inheritance: theory and a field test. Am. Nat. 167: 837-852

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandrashekara K. and Gadagkar R. 1991. Behavioural castes, dominance and division of labour in a primitively eusocial wasp. Ethology 87: 269-283

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandrashekara K. and Gadagkar R. 1992. Queen succession in the primitively eusocial tropical wasp Ropalidia marginata (Lep.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). J. Insect Behav. 5: 193-209

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings D.L.D., Gamboa G.J. and Harding B.J. 1999. Lateral vibrations by social wasps signal larvae to withhold salivary secretions (Polistes fuscatus, Hymenoptera: Vespidae). J. Insect Behav. 12: 465-473

    Google Scholar 

  • Downing H.A. and Jeanne R.L. 1985. Communication of status in the social wasp Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Z. Tierpsychol. 67: 78-96

    Google Scholar 

  • Field J. and Cant M. 2006. Helping effort in primitively eusocial wasps. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 43: 481-487

    Google Scholar 

  • Field J., Cronin A. and Bridge C. 2006. Future fitness and helping in social queues. Nature 441: 214-217

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadagkar R. 1980. Dominance hierarchy and division of labour in the social wasp Ropalidia marginata (Lep.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Curr. Sci. 49: 772-775

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadagkar R. 2001. The Social Biology of Ropalidia marginata: Toward Understanding the Evolution of Eusociality. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

  • Gadagkar R. 2009. Interrogating an insect society. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 10407-10414

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes C.R. and Strassmann J.E. 1988. Age is more important than size in determining dominance among workers in the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes instabilis. Behaviour 107: 1-15

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishikawa Y., Yamada Y.Y., Matsuura M., Tsukada M. and Tsuchida K. 2010. Dominance hierarchy among workers changes with colony development in Polistes japonicus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) paper wasp colonies with a small number of workers. Insect. Soc. 57: 465-475

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanne R.L. 1972. Social biology of the neotropical wasp Mischocyttarus drewseni. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 144: 63-150

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanne R.L. 2003. Social complexity in the Hymenoptera, with special attention to the wasps. In: Genes, Behaviors and Evolution of Social Insects (Kikuchi T., Azuma N. and Higashi S., Eds), Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo. pp 81-131

  • Jeanne R.L. 2009. Vibrational signals in social wasps: a role in caste determination? In: Organization of Insect Societies: from Genome to Sociocomplexity (Gadau J. and Fewell J., Eds), Harvard University Press, Cambridge. pp 243-265

  • Keller L. and Nonacs P. 1993. The role of queen pheromones in social insects: queen control or queen signal? Anim. Behav. 45: 787-794

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamba S., Chandrasekhar K. and Gadagkar R. 2008. Signaling hunger through aggression - the regulation of foraging in a primitively eusocial wasp. Naturwissenschaften 95: 677-680

    Google Scholar 

  • Litte M. 1977. Behavioral ecology of the social wasp, Mischocyttarus mexicanus. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 2: 229-246

  • Matsuura M. 1995. General remarks on the Japanese social wasps: Polistinae. In: Social Wasps of Japan in Color. Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo. pp 309-322 (in Japanese)

  • Miyano S. 1986. Colony development, worker behavior and male production in orphan colonies of a Japanese paper wasp, Polistes chinensis antennalis Pérez (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Res. Popul. Ecol. 28: 347-361

  • Molina Y. and O’Donnell S. 2009. Worker reproductive competition affects division of labor in a primitively social paperwasp (Polistes instabilis). Insect. Soc. 56: 14-20

    Google Scholar 

  • Monnin T. and Peeters C. 1999. Dominance hierarchy and reproductive conflicts among subordinates in a monogynous queenless ant. Behav. Ecol. 10: 323-332

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell S. 1998. Effects of experimental forager removals on division of labour in the primitively eusocial wasp Polistes instabilis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Behaviour 135: 173-193

  • Pardi L. 1948. Dominance order in Polistes wasp. Physiol. Zool. 21: 1-13

    Google Scholar 

  • Peeters C. and Liebig J. 2009. Fertility signaling as a general mechanism of regulating reproductive division of labor in ants. In: Organization of Insect Societies: from Genome to Sociocomplexity (Gadau J. and Fewell J., Eds), Harvard University Press, Cambridge. pp 220-242

  • Premnath S., Sinha A. and Gadagkar R. 1996. Dominance relationship in the establishment of reproductive division of labour in a primitively eusocial wasp (Ropalidia marginata). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 39: 125-132

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeve H.K. 1991. Polistes. In: The Social Biology of Wasps (Ross K.G. and Matthews R.W., Eds), Comstock Publishing Associates, A division of Cornell University Press, London. pp 99-148

  • Reeve H.K. and Gamboa G.J. 1987. Queen regulation of worker foraging in paper wasps: a social feedback control system (Polistes fuscatus, Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Behaviour 102: 147-167

  • Rice W.R. 1989. Analyzing tables of statistical tests. Evolution 43: 223-225

    Google Scholar 

  • Röseler P.-F. 1991. Reproductive competition during colony establishment. In: The Social Biology of Wasps (Ross K.G. and Matthews R.W., Eds), Comstock Publishing Associates, A division of Cornell University Press, London. pp 309-335

  • Sledge M.F., Boscaro F. and Turillazzi S. 2001. Cuticular hydrocarbons and reproductive status in the social wasp Polistes dominulus. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 49: 401-409

    Google Scholar 

  • Spradbery J.P. 1991. Evolution of queen number and queen control. In: The Social Biology of Wasps (Ross K.G. and Matthews R.W. Eds), Comstock Publishing Associates, A division of Cornell University Press, London. pp 336-388

  • Strauss K., Scharpenberg H., Crewe R.M., Glahn F., Foth H. and Moritz R.F.A. 2008. The role of the queen mandibular gland pheromone in honeybees (Apis mellifera): honest signal or suppressive agent? Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 62: 1523-1531

    Google Scholar 

  • Sumana A. and Gadagkar R. 2001. The structure of dominance hierarchies in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata. Ethol. Ecol. Evol. 13: 273-281

    Google Scholar 

  • Suryanarayanan S., Hantschel A.E., Torres C.G. and Jeanne R.L. 2011. Changes in the temporal pattern of antennal drumming behavior across the Polistes fuscatus colony cycle (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Insect. Soc. 58: 97-106

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenseleers T. and Ratnieks F.L.W. 2006. Comparative analysis of worker reproduction and policing in eusocial Hymenoptera supports relatedness theory. Am. Nat. 168: E163-E179

  • West-Eberhard M.J. 1978. Temporary queens in Metapolybia wasps: non-reproductive helpers without altruism? Science 200: 441-443

    Google Scholar 

  • West-Eberhard M.J. 1981. Intragroup selection and the evolution of insect societies. In: Natural Selection and Social Behavior: Research and New Theory (Alexander R.D. and Tinkle D.W., Eds), Chiron Press, New York. pp 3-17

  • Wilson E.O. 1974. Group effects and the control of nestmates. In: The Insect Societies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. pp 296-305

  • Yamane S. 1986. The colony life cycle of the Sumatran paper wasp Ropalidia (Icariola) variegata jacobsoni (Buysson). With reference to the possible occurrence of serial polygyny (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Monit. Zool. Ital. 20: 135-161

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank R.L. Jeanne and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Insect Ecology Laboratory, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Y. Ishikawa, Y. Y. Yamada, M. Matsuura & M. Tsukada

  2. Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Yanagido 1-1, Gifu, Gifu, 501-1193, Japan

    K. Tsuchida

Authors
  1. Y. Ishikawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Y. Y. Yamada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Matsuura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Tsukada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K. Tsuchida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Y. Y. Yamada.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ishikawa, Y., Yamada, Y.Y., Matsuura, M. et al. Polistes japonicus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) queens monopolize ovipositing but are not the most active aggressor in dominant-subordinate interactions. Insect. Soc. 58, 519–529 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-011-0173-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-011-0173-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation