Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Forager specialization and the control of nest repair in Polybia occidentalis Olivier (Hymenoptera : Vespidae)

  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

We measured patterns of individual forager specialization and colony-wide rates of material input during periods of response to experimental nest damage and during control periods in three colonies of the tropical social wasp Polybia occidentalis.

  1. (1)

    Most foragers specialized on gathering a single material. While active, foragers rarely switched materials, and most switching that did occur was between functionally related materials — prey and nectar (food materials) or wood pulp and water (nest materials).

  2. (2)

    Individuals differed greatly in activity level, here expressed as rate of foraging. Workers that foraged at high rates specialized on a single material in almost all cases. Specialized, highly active foragers comprised a minority (about 33%) of the working foragers in each colony, yet provided most of the material input.

  3. (3)

    Individual wasps that responded to experimental nest damage by foraging for nest materials did not gather food on days preceding or following manipulation.

  4. (4)

    On the colony level, nectar and prey foraging rates were not affected by foraging effort allocated to nest repair within days, or when comparing control days with days when damage was imposed. The emergency foraging response to nest damage in P. occidentalis did not depend on effort recruited away from food foraging.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abraham M, Pasteels JM (1980) Social behaviour during nest-moving in the ant Myrmica rubra L. (Hym. Form.). Insectes Sociaux 27:127–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Altmann J (1974) Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 49:227–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Calabi P (1988) Behavioral flexibility in Hymenoptera: a re-examination of the concept of caste. In: Trager JC (ed) Advances in myrmecology. EJ Brill Press, Leiden, pp 237–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Calabi P, Traniello JFA (1989) Social organization in the ant Pheidole dentata. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 24:69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Calabi P, Traniello JFA, Werner MH (1983) Age polyethism: its occurrence in the ant Pheidole hortensis, and some general considerations. Psyche 85:395–412

    Google Scholar 

  • Colgan PW, Smith JT (1978) Multidimensional contingency table analysis. In: Colgan PW (ed) Quantitative ethology, chapter 6. Wiley, New York, pp 145–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Eickwort GC, Ginsberg HS (1980) Foraging and mating behavior in Apoidea. Annu Rev Entomol 25:421–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth AB (1978) Studies on the behavioral ecology of polygynous social wasps. PhD dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Franks NR (1987) The organization of working teams in social insects. Trends Ecol Evol 2:72–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon DM (1984) The persistence of role in exterior workers of the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius. Psyche 91:251–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon DM (1989a) Caste and change in social insects. In: Harvey PL, Partridge L (eds) Oxford surveys in evolutionary biology, vol 6. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 55–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon DM (1989b) Dynamics of task switching in harvester ants. Anim Behav 38:194–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich B (1976) The foraging specializations of individual bumblebees. Ecol Monogr 46:105–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbers JM (1980) On caste ratios in ant colonies: population responses to changing environments. Evolution 34:575–585

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbers JM (1981) Reliability theory and foraging by ants. J Theor Biol 89:175–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt JH, Jeanne RL, Baker I, Grogan DE (1987) Nutrient dynamics of a swarm-founding social wasp species, Polybia occidentalis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Ethology 75:291–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanne RL (1986a) The evolution of the organization of work in social insects. Monitore Zool Ital 20:119–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanne RL (1986b) The organization of work in Polybia occidentalis: costs and benefits of specialization in a social wasp. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 19:333–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanne RL (1987) Do water foragers pace construction activity in Polybia occidentalis? Experientia Suppl 54:241–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanne RL, Downing HA, Post DC (1988) Age polyethism and individual variation in Polybia occidentalis, an advanced eusocial wasp. In: Jeanne RL (ed) Interindividual behavioral variability in social insects. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 323–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolmes SA (1985a) An information theory analysis of task specialization among worker honey bees performing hive duties. Anim Behav 33:181–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolmes SA (1985b) An ergonomic study of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae). J Kans Entomol Soc 58:413–421

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolmes SA (1986) Have hymenopteran societies evolved to be ergonomically efficient? J N Y Entomol Soc 94:447–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehner PN (1979) Handbook of ecological methods. Garland STPM Press, New York, p 277

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenoir A, Ataya H (1982) Stochastic aspects of polyethism in the ant Lasius niger. In: Breed MD, Michener CD, Evans HE (eds) The biology of social insects. Boulder, Westview Press, p 252

    Google Scholar 

  • Oster GF, Wilson EO (1978) Caste and ecology in the social insects. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Plowright RC, Plowright CMS (1988) Elitism in social insects: a positive feedback model. In: Jeanne RL (ed) Interindividual behavioral variability in social insects. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 419–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Rissing SW (1981) Foraging specializations of individual seed-harvester ants. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 9:149–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid-Hempel P (1984) Individually different foraging methods in the desert ant Cataglyphis bicolor (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 14:263–271

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeley TD (1982) Adaptive significance of the age polyethism schedule in honeybee colonies. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 11:287–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg JB (1977) Information theory as an ethological tool. In: Hazlett BA (ed) Quantitative methods in the study of animal behavior. Academic Press, New York, pp 47–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Verron H (1981) Polyethism and population genetics. In: Howse PE, Clement JL (eds) Biosystematics of social insects. Academic Press, London, pp 289–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1971) The insect societies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1983) Caste and division of labor in leaf-cutter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Atta) III. Ergonomic resiliency in foraging by A. cephalotes. Behav Feel Sociobiol 14:47–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1984) The relation between caste ratios and division of labor in the ant genus Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Behav Ecol Sociobiol 16:89–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Winston ML, Fergusson LA (1985) The effect of worker loss on temporal caste structure in colonies of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.). Can J Zool 63:777–780

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin, 53706, Madison, WI, USA

    S. O'Donnell & R. L. Jeanne

Authors
  1. S. O'Donnell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. L. Jeanne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Offprint requests to: S. O'Donnell

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

O'Donnell, S., Jeanne, R.L. Forager specialization and the control of nest repair in Polybia occidentalis Olivier (Hymenoptera : Vespidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 27, 359–364 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00164007

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00164007

Keywords

Search

Navigation