Open AccessNeotropical Swarm-Founding Wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae: Epiponini) Accept Expelled Queens in Case of Queen Loss
Author(s) -
Laura Chavarría-Pizarro,
Marjorie Silva,
Fernando Barbosa Noll
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
sociobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.378
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 2447-8067
pISSN - 0361-6525
DOI - 10.13102/sociobiology.v65i2.2073
Subject(s) - vespidae , biology , exigua , queen (butterfly) , zoology , ecology , hymenoptera , swarm behaviour , spodoptera , gene , recombinant dna , biochemistry
In the Epiponini, queen number declines through colony cycle, becausesome queens are expelled from colonies. Here we demonstratethat Epiponini wasps may accept expelled queens in situations ofqueenlessness. One colony of Protopolybia exigua was observed at theUniversity of São Paulo in Brazil; and another of Metapolybia docilis wasobserved at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. Queen removaltests were performed to study workers’ acceptance of expelled queensand queens from other colonies. In P. exigua, the experimental queenelimination caused a change in the workers’ behavior, ranging fromaggressive expulsion of non-selected queens to re-acceptance. In M.docilis workers were willing to accept queens from other colonies afterqueen elimination. Our results indicate that because of a decrease inworkers aggressiveness during the colony cycle, workers may acceptexpelled queens (even foreign ones, in experimental situations) in orderto ensure colony survival.