On status badges and quality signals in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus: Body size, facial colour patterns and hierarchical rank

R. Cervo, L. Dapporto, L. Beani, J. E. Strassmann, S. Turillazzi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

72 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1189-1196
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume275
Issue number1639
DOIs
StatePublished - May 22 2008

Keywords

  • Body size
  • Dominance hierarchy
  • Polistes wasps
  • Status badges
  • Strepsiptera
  • Winter survival

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'On status badges and quality signals in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus: Body size, facial colour patterns and hierarchical rank'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this