TY - JOUR
T1 - On status badges and quality signals in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus
T2 - Body size, facial colour patterns and hierarchical rank
AU - Cervo, R.
AU - Dapporto, L.
AU - Beani, L.
AU - Strassmann, J. E.
AU - Turillazzi, S.
PY - 2008/5/22
Y1 - 2008/5/22
N2 - To establish a dominance order, social animals often rely on indicators of fighting to avoid costly aggressive encounters. In some species, individuals use colour patterns to signal their social status. Recent studies claimed that facial markings in the eusocial paper wasp Polistes dominulus are status badges that allow co-foundresses to form a linear hierarchy based on individual quality. Here, we evaluated facial patterns in natural populations of P. dominulus, in its native range, to observe whether the marks reflect overall wasp quality in different contexts. We used the same measures of clypeus patterns used by earlier studies, but did not find that they functioned as status badges. Our analyses showed no evidence that visual markers are related to: (i) size, (ii) probability of surviving winter, (iii) social rank in spring associations, or (iv) health status (assessed by the presence of strepsipteran endoparasites). Size, however, is important. Larger wasps are more likely to survive the winter and to acquire the dominant position in spring associations. Larvae infected with endoparasites become smaller adult wasps. These findings suggest that body size is a reliable quality indicator on which wasps build their social networks, and that clypeus patterning is not involved.
AB - To establish a dominance order, social animals often rely on indicators of fighting to avoid costly aggressive encounters. In some species, individuals use colour patterns to signal their social status. Recent studies claimed that facial markings in the eusocial paper wasp Polistes dominulus are status badges that allow co-foundresses to form a linear hierarchy based on individual quality. Here, we evaluated facial patterns in natural populations of P. dominulus, in its native range, to observe whether the marks reflect overall wasp quality in different contexts. We used the same measures of clypeus patterns used by earlier studies, but did not find that they functioned as status badges. Our analyses showed no evidence that visual markers are related to: (i) size, (ii) probability of surviving winter, (iii) social rank in spring associations, or (iv) health status (assessed by the presence of strepsipteran endoparasites). Size, however, is important. Larger wasps are more likely to survive the winter and to acquire the dominant position in spring associations. Larvae infected with endoparasites become smaller adult wasps. These findings suggest that body size is a reliable quality indicator on which wasps build their social networks, and that clypeus patterning is not involved.
KW - Body size
KW - Dominance hierarchy
KW - Polistes wasps
KW - Status badges
KW - Strepsiptera
KW - Winter survival
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=41649095714&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2007.1779
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2007.1779
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:41649095714
SN - 0962-8452
VL - 275
SP - 1189
EP - 1196
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1639
ER -