Sociality has evolved predominantly in a few taxa within the animal kingdom. Even within the Hymenoptera, which are famous for their abundance and diversity of social life forms, eusocial species are very unevenly distributed among different families. Here we ask why within the superfamily Apoidea so few sphecid wasps but so many bees have become eusocial. We argue that the crucial difference between these two taxa is the type of resource provided for the progeny and that this has important consequences for the evolution of sociality. Sphecids provision brood cells with dead or paralyzed arthropods whereas bees gather pollen and nectar as larval food. In social Hymenoptera, workers are often smaller than the foundress es, since this saves some resources in particular at the beginning of the nest founding. However, the large size of the prey of sphecids requires a female to generate a certain minimum amount of power to bring the prey to the nest. Thus, small and/or weak females would not be successful at all and would not represent valuable helpers. In bees, however, small individuals are capable of gathering pollen at a comparatively high rate. Furthermore, the evolution of sociality might be facilitated if foundresses can save investment by providing sexuals and helpers only with the resources that are necessary for their respective task. Such a task-related investment for progeny might be much easier in bees than in sphecids, since the former can provide pollen of different plant species and different proportions of nectar whereas the latter cannot control the quality of the larval food to such an extent. The large size of the prey of sphecids has also enabled a unique strategy of oviposition for larval parasites. Flies and cuckoo wasps might oviposit on the prey while it is carried to the nest by a sphecid female. This “out-of-nest” parasitism cannot be countered by communal nesting, for example, making early steps of sociality less beneficial than in bees where this type of parasitism does not occur. We conclude that one of the most basic ecological features, the type of resource used for provisioning, might have far-reaching consequences for the evolution of sociality in the Hymenoptera.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abrams J, Eickwort GC (1981) Nest switching and guarding by the communal sweat bee Agapostemon virescens (Hymenoptera, Halictidae). Ins Soc 28:105-116
Alcock J (1975) Social interactions in the solitary wasp Cerceris simplex(Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Behaviour 54:142-151
Alexander RD (1974) The evolution of social behavior. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 4:325-383
Andersson M (1984) The evolution of eusociality. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 15:165-189
Banschbach VS, Herbers JM (1996) Complex colony structure in social insects: I. Ecological determinants and genetic consequences. Evolution 50:285-297
Beekman M, van-Stratum P, Lingeman R (1998) Diapause survival and post-diapause performance in bumblebee queens (Bombus terrestris). Ent Exp Appl 89:207-214
Bourke AFG (1988) Worker reproduction in the higher eusocial Hymenoptera. Q Rev Biol 63:291-311
Bosch J, Vicens N (2006) Relationship between body size, provisioning rate, longevity and reproductive success in females of the solitary bee Osmia cornuta. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60:26-33
Bourke AFG, Franks NR (1995) Social evolution in ants. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Brockmann HJ (1994) The evolution of social behavior in insects. In: Krebs J, Davies N (eds) Behavioural ecology: an evolutionary approach. Blackwell, Oxford
Brockmann HJ (1997) Cooperative breeding in wasps and vertebrates: the role of ecological constraints. In: Choe JC, Crespi BJ (eds) The evolution of social behavior in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Brothers DJ (1999) Phylogeny of wasps, ants and bees (Hymenoptera, Chrysidoidea, Vespoidea and Apoidea). Zool Scr 28:233-249
Byers GW (1978) Nests, prey, behavior and development of Cerceris halone (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). J Kans Ent Soc 51:818-831
Choe JC, Crespi BJ (1997) The evolution of social behavior in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Coelho JR (1997) Sexual size dimorphism and flight behavior in cicada killers, Sphecius speciosus. Oikos 79:371-375
Coelho JR, Ladage LD (1999) Foraging capacity of the great golden digger wasp Sphex ichneumoneus. Ecol Entomol 24:480-483
Craig R (1983) Subfertility and the evolution of eusociality by kin selection. J Theor Biol 100:379-398
Crespi BJ, Choe JC (1997) Explanation and evolution of social systems. In: Choe JC, Crespi BJ (eds) The evolution of social behavior in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 499-524
Danforth BN (2002) Evolution of sociality in a primitively eusocial lineage of bees. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:286-290
Evans HE (1977) Extrinsic vs intrinsic factors in the evolution of insect sociality. Bioscience 27:613-617
Evans HE, O’Neill K (1988) The natural history of North American beewolves. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY
Field J (1992) Patterns of nest provisioning and parental investment in the solitary digger wasp Ammophila sabulosa. Ecol Entomol 17:43-51
Field J (2005) The evolution of progressive provisioning. Behav Ecol 16:770-778
Field J, Brace S (2004) Pre-social benefits of extended parental care. Nature 428:650-652
Field J, Foster W (1999) Helping behaviour in facultatively eusocial hover wasps: an experimental test of the subfertility hypothesis. Animal Behaviour 57:633-636
Field J, Shreeves G, Sumner S, Casiraghi M (2000) Insurance-based advantages to helpers in a tropical hover wasp. Nature 404:869-871
Freeman B (1977) Aspects of the regulation of size of the Jamaican population of Sceliphron assimile Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). J Anim Ecol 46:231-247
Freeman BE (1981) Parental investment and its ecological consequences in the solitary wasp Sceliphron assimile (Dahlbom) (Sphecidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 9:261-268
Freeman B, Johnston B (1978) The biology in Jamaica of the adults of the sphecid wasp Sceliphron assimile Dahlbom. Ecol Entomol 2:39-52
Frohlich D, Tepedino V (1986) Sex ratio, parental investment, and interparent variability in nest-ing success in a solitary bee. Evolution 40:142-151
Gadagkar R (1990) Evolution of eusociality: the advantage of assured fitness returns. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 329:17-25
Gauld I, Bolton B (1996) The Hymenoptera. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Goodell K (2003) Food availability affects Osmia pumila (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) foraging, reproduction, and brood parasitism. Oecologia 134:518-527
Gwynne DT, Dodson GN (1983) Nonrandom provisioning by the digger wasp Palmodes laeviv-entris (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Ann Ent Soc Am 76:434-436
Hamilton WD (1964) The genetical theory of social behaviour, I, II. J Theor Biol 7:1-52
Hamilton WD (1972) Altruism and related phenomena, mainly in social insects. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 3:193-232
Hastings J (1986) Provisioning by female cicada killer wasps, Sphecius grandis (Hymenoptera Sphecidae): influence of body size and emergence time on individual provisioning success. J Kans Entomol Soc 59:262-268
Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The ants. Belknap Press, Cambridge
Johnson MD (1990) Female size and fecundity in the small carpenter bee, Ceratina calcerata (Robertson) (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). J Kans Ent Soc 63:414-419
Keller L, Passera L (1989) Size and fat content of genes in relation to the mode of colony founding in ants (Hymenoptera; Formicidae). Oecologia 80:236-240
Kim J-Y (1997) Female size and fitness in the leaf-cutter bee Megachile apicalis. Ecol Entomol 22:275-282
Kim JY, Thorp RW (2001) Maternal investment and size-number trade-off in a bee, Megachile apicalis, in seasonal environments. Oecologia 126:451-456
Knee WJ, Medler JT (1965) Seasonal size increase of bumblebee workers (Hymenoptera: Bombus). Can Entomol 97:1149
Larsson K, Tengö J (1989) It is not always good to be large; some female fitness components in a temperate digger wasp, Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). J Kansas Ent Soc 62:490-495
Liebig J, Hölldobler B, Peeters C (1998) Are ant workers capable of colony foundation? Naturwissenschaften 85:133-135
Liebig J, Monnin T, Turillazzi S (2005) Direct assessment of queen quality and lack of worker suppression in a paper wasp. Proc R Soc Lond B 272:1339-1344
Lin N, Michener CG (1972) Evolution of sociality in insects. Q Rev Biol 47:131-159
Matthews RW (1991) Evolution of social behavior in the sphecid wasps. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY
McCorquodale D (1989) Nest defense in single- and multifemale nests of Cerceris antipodes (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). J Ins Behav 2:267-276
Melo GAR (1999) Phylogenetic relationships and classification of the major lineages of apoidea (Hymenoptera), with emphasis on the crabronid wasps. Nat Hist Mus Univ Kans 14:1-55
Michener CD (2000) The bees of the world. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Miyanaga R, Maeta Y, Sakagami SF (1999) Geographical variation of sociality and size-linked color patterns in Lasioglossum (Evylaeus) apristum (Vachal) in Japan (Hymenoptera, Halictidae). Ins Soc 46:224-232
Molumby A (1995) Dynamics of arasitism in the organ-pipe wasp, Trypoxylon politum: effects of spatial scale on parasitoid functional response. Ecol Entomol 20:159-168
O’Neill K (2001) Solitary wasps. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY
Peeters C, Ito F (2001) Colony dispersal and the evolution of queen morphology in social hymenoptera. Annu Rev Entomol 46:601-630
Potts S, Willmer PAT (1997) Abiotic and biotic factors influencing nest-site selection by Halictus rubicundus, a ground-nesting halictine bee. Ecol Entomol 22:319-328
Potts SG, Willmer P (1998) Compact housing in built-up areas: spatial patterning of nests in aggregations of a ground-nesting bee. Ecol Entomol 23:427-432
Queller DC (1989) The evolution of eusociality: reproductive head starts of workers. Proc of Natl Acad Sci USA 86:3224-3226
Queller DC (1994) Extended parental care and the origin of eusociality. Proc R Soc Lond B 256:105-111
Reeve HK, Peters JM, Nonacs P, Starks PT (1998) Dispersal of first “workers” in social wasps: causes and implications of an alternative reproductive strategy. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:13737-13742
Richards MH, Packer L (1994) Trophic aspects of caste determination in Halictus ligatus, a primitively eusocial sweat bee. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 34:385-391
Richards MH, Packer L (1995) Annual variation in survival and reproduction of the primitively eusocial sweat bee Halictus ligatus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Can J Zool 73:933-941
Richards MH, Packer L (1996) The socioecology of body size variation in the primitively eusocial sweat bee, Halictus ligatus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Oikos 77:68-76
Rosenheim JA (1990) Density-dependent parasitism and the evolution of aggregated nesting in the solitary hymenoptera. Ann Ent Soc Am 83:277-286
Ross KG, Matthews RW (1991) The social biology of wasps. Comstock, Ithaca, NY
Roulston TH, Cane JH (2000) Pollen nutritional content and digestibility for animals. Plant Syst Evol 222:187-209
Roulston TH, Cane JH (2002) The effect of pollen protein concentration on body size in the sweat bee Lasioglossum zephyrum (Hymenoptera: Apiformes). Evol Ecol 16:49-65
Schmid-Hempel P (1998) Parasites in social insects. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Schwarz MP, Bull NJ, Hogendoorn K (1998) Evolution of sociality in the allodapine bees: a review of sex allocation, ecology and evolution. Ins Soc 45:349
Shakarad M, Gadagkar R (1997) Do social wasps choose nesting strategies based on their brood rearing abilities? Naturwissenschaften 84:79-82
Smith CC, Fretwell SD (1974) The optimal balance between size and number of offspring. Am Nat 108:499-507
Solís CR, Strassmann JE (1990) Presence of brood affects caste differentiation in the social wasp, Polistes exclamans Viereck (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Funct Ecol 4:531-541
Soucy SL, Giray T (2003) Solitary and group nesting in the orchid bee Euglossa hyacinthina (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Ins Soc 50:248
Spofford MG, Kurczewski FE (1992) Counter-cleptoparasitic behaviour of species of Sphecidae, Hymenoptera, in response to Miltogrammini larviposition Diptera, Sarcophagidae. J Nat Hist 26:993-1012
Stille M (1996) Queen/worker thorax volume ratios and nest-founding strategies in ants. Oecologia 105:87
Strohm E (2000) Factors affecting body size and fat content in a digger wasp. Oecologia 123:184-191
Strohm E, Linsenmair KE (1997) Female size affects provisioning and sex allocation in a digger wasp. Anim Behav 54:23-34
Strohm E, Linsenmair KE (2000) Allocation of parental investment among individual progeny in the European beewolf Philanthus triangulum F. (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Biol J Linn Soc 69:173-192
Strohm E, Linsenmair KE (2001) Females of the European beewolf preserve their honeybee prey against competing fungi. Ecol Entomol 26:198-203
Strohm E, Bordon-Hauser A (2003) Advantages and disadvantages of large colony size in a halictid bee—the queen’s perspective. Behav Ecol 14:546-553
Strohm E, Laurien-Kehnen C, Bordon S (2001) Escape from parasitism: spatial and temporal strategies of a sphecid wasp against a specialised cuckoo wasp. Oecologia 129:50-57
Sugiura N (1994) Parental investment and offspring sex ratio in a solitary bee, Anthidium septemspinosum Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). J Ethol 12:131-139
Sugiura N, Maeta Y (1989) Parental investment and offspring sex ratio in a solitary mason bee, Osmia cornifromns (Radzowski) (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Jpn J Ent 57:861-875
Tepedino VJ, Torchio PF (1982) Phenotypic variability in nesting success among Osmia lignaria propinqua females in a glasshouse environment (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Ecol Entomol 7:453-462
Torchio PF (1992) Effects of spore dosage and temperature on pathogenic expression of chalkbrood syndrome caused by Ascosphaere torchioi within larvae of Osmia lignaria propinqua (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Env Entomol 21:1086-1091
Veenendaal RL (1987) The hidden egg of Hedychrum rutilans (Hym.: Chrysididae). Entomol Ber 47:169-171
Wcislo WT (1984) Gregarious nesting of a digger wasp as a “selfish herd” response to a parasitic fly (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae; Diptera: Sacrophagidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 15:157-160
Wcislo WT (1997) Behavioral environments of sweat bees (Halictinae) in relation to variability in social oprganization. In: Choe JC, Crespi BJ (eds) Social behavior in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Wcislo WT, Cane JH (1996) Floral resource utilization by solitary bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) and exploitation of their stored foods by natural enemies. Annu Rev Entomol 41:257-286
Wcislo WT, Danforth BN (1997) Secondarily solitary: the evolutionary loss of social behavior. TREE 12:468-474
West-Eberhard MJ (1975) The evolution of social behavior by kin selection. Q Rev Biol 50:1-33
Wheeler DE (1986) Developmental and physiological determinants of caste in social Hymenoptera: Evolutionary implications. Am Nat 128:13-34
Willmer PG (1985) Size effects and hygrothermal balance and foraging patterns of a sphecid wasp, Cerceris arenaria. Ecol Entomol 10:469-479
Wilson EO (1971) The insect societies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Wilson EO (1975) Sociobiology, the new synthesis. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Strohm E (2000) Factors affecting body size and fat content in a digger wasp. Oecologia 123:184-191
Strohm E, Linsenmair KE (1997) Female size affects provisioning and sex allocation in a digger wasp. Anim Behav 54:23-34
Strohm E, Linsenmair KE (2000) Allocation of parental investment among individual progeny in the European beewolf Philanthus triangulum F. (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Biol J Linn Soc 69:173-192
Strohm E, Linsenmair KE (2001) Females of the European beewolf preserve their honeybee prey against competing fungi. Ecol Entomol 26:198-203
Strohm E, Bordon-Hauser A (2003) Advantages and disadvantages of large colony size in a halictid bee—the queen’s perspective. Behav Ecol 14:546-553
Strohm E, Laurien-Kehnen C, Bordon S (2001) Escape from parasitism: spatial and temporal strategies of a sphecid wasp against a specialised cuckoo wasp. Oecologia 129:50-57
Sugiura N (1994) Parental investment and offspring sex ratio in a solitary bee, Anthidium septemspinosum Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). J Ethol 12:131-139
Sugiura N, Maeta Y (1989) Parental investment and offspring sex ratio in a solitary mason bee, Osmia cornifromns (Radzowski) (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Jpn J Ent 57:861-875
Tepedino VJ, Torchio PF (1982) Phenotypic variability in nesting success among Osmia lignaria propinqua females in a glasshouse environment (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Ecol Entomol 7:453-462
Torchio PF (1992) Effects of spore dosage and temperature on pathogenic expression of chalkbrood syndrome caused by Ascosphaere torchioi within larvae of Osmia lignaria propinqua (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Env Entomol 21:1086-1091
Veenendaal RL (1987) The hidden egg of Hedychrum rutilans (Hym.: Chrysididae). Entomol Ber 47:169-171
Wcislo WT (1984) Gregarious nesting of a digger wasp as a “selfish herd” response to a parasitic fly (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae; Diptera: Sacrophagidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 15:157-160
Wcislo WT (1997) Behavioral environments of sweat bees (Halictinae) in relation to variability in social oprganization. In: Choe JC, Crespi BJ (eds) Social behavior in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Wcislo WT, Cane JH (1996) Floral resource utilization by solitary bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) and exploitation of their stored foods by natural enemies. Annu Rev Entomol 41:257-286
Wcislo WT, Danforth BN (1997) Secondarily solitary: the evolutionary loss of social behavior. TREE 12:468-474
West-Eberhard MJ (1975) The evolution of social behavior by kin selection. Q Rev Biol 50:1-33
Wheeler DE (1986) Developmental and physiological determinants of caste in social Hymenoptera: Evolutionary implications. Am Nat 128:13-34
Willmer PG (1985) Size effects and hygrothermal balance and foraging patterns of a sphecid wasp, Cerceris arenaria. Ecol Entomol 10:469-479
Wilson EO (1971) The insect societies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Wilson EO (1975) Sociobiology, the new synthesis. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Strohm, E., Liebig, J. (2008). Why are so Many Bees but so Few Digger Wasps Social? The Effect of Provisioning Mode and Helper Efficiency on the Distribution of Sociality Among the Apoidea. In: Korb, J., Heinze, J. (eds) Ecology of Social Evolution. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75957-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-75957-7_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-75956-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-75957-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)