Skip to main content
Log in

Signaling hunger through aggression—the regulation of foraging in a primitively eusocial wasp

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
Naturwissenschaften Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Primitively eusocial wasps are generally headed by behaviorally dominant queens who use their aggression to suppress worker reproduction. In contrast, queens in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata are strikingly docile and non-aggressive. However, workers exhibit dominance–subordinate interactions among themselves. These interactions do not appear to reflect reproductive competition because there is no correlation between the relative position of an individual in the dominance hierarchy of the colony and the likelihood that she will succeed a lost/removed queen. Based on the observation that foraging continues unaltered in the absence of the queen and the correlation between dominance behavior and foraging, we have previously suggested that dominance-subordinate interactions among workers in R. marginata have been co-opted to serve the function of decentralized, self-organized regulation of foraging. This idea has been supported by an earlier experimental study where it was found that a reduced demand for food led to a significant decrease in dominance behavior. In this study, we perform the converse experiment, demonstrate that dominance behavior increases under conditions of starvation, and thus provide further evidence in support of the hypothesis that intranidal workers signal hunger through aggression.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • Bruyndonckx N, Kardile SP, Gadagkar R (2006) Dominance behaviour and regulation of foraging in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata (Lep.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Behav Processes 72:100–103

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chandrashekara K, Gadagkar R (1991) Behavioural castes, dominance and division of labour in a primitively eusocial wasp. Ethology 87:269–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandrashekara K, Gadagkar R (1992) Queen succession in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) (Lep.). J Insect Behav 5:193–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deshpande SA, Sumana A, Surbeck M, Gadagkar R (2006) Wasp who would be queen: a comparative study of two primitively eusocial species. Curr Sci 91:332–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadagkar R (1980) Dominance hierarchy and division of labour in the social wasp, Ropalidia marginata (Lep.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Curr Sci 49:772–775

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadagkar R (2001) The social biology of Ropalidia marginata: toward understanding the evolution of eusociality. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadagkar R, Joshi NV (1983) Quantitative ethology of social wasps: time-activity budgets and caste differentiation in Ropalidia marginata (Lep.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Anim Behav 31:26–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamboa GJ, Wacker TL, Scope JA, Cornell TJ, Shellman-Reeve J (1990) The mechanism of queen regulation of foraging by workers in paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus, Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Ethology 85:335–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeanne RL (1972) Social biology of the neotropical wasp Mischocyttarus drewseni. Bull Mus Comp Zool 144:63–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Kardile SP, Gadagkar R (2002) Docile sitters and active fighters in paper wasps: a tale of two queens. Naturwissenschaften 89:176–179

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell S (1995) Division of labor in post-emergence colonies of the primitively eusocial wasp Polistes instabilis de Saussure (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Ins Soc 42:17–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell S (1998) Effects of experimental forager removals on division of labour in the primitively eusocial wasp Polistes instabilis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Behaviour 135:173–193

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell S (2001) Worker biting interactions and task performance in swarm-founding eusocial wasp (Polybia occidentalis, Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Behav Ecol 12:353–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell S (2003) The development of biting interactions and task performance in a tropical eusocial wasp. Behaviour 140:255–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell S (2006) Polybia wasp biting interactions recruit foragers following experimental worker removals. Anim Behav 71:709–715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pardi L (1948) Dominance order in Polistes wasps. Physiol Zool 21:1–13

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Premnath S, Sinha A, Gadagkar R (1995) Regulation of worker activity in a primitively eusocial wasp, Ropalidia marginata. Behav Ecol 6:117–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeve HK (1991) Polistes. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, pp 99–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Röseler PF (1991) Reproductive competition during colony establishment. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, pp 309–335

    Google Scholar 

  • Sumana A, Starks PT (2004) The function of dart behavior in the paper wasp, Polistes fuscatus. Naturwissenschaften 91:220–223

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • West-Eberhard MJ (1969) The social biology of polistine wasps. Misc Publ Mus Zool Univ Mich 140:1–101

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

We thank the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Biotechnology, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, for financial assistance. All experiments reported in this paper comply with the current laws in India. S.L. and K.C. performed the experiments under the supervision of R.G. S.L. and R.G. co-wrote the paper. We thank Sujata Deshpande and Anindita Bhadra for many helpful discussions during the design of the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Raghavendra Gadagkar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lamba, S., Chandrasekhar, K. & Gadagkar, R. Signaling hunger through aggression—the regulation of foraging in a primitively eusocial wasp. Naturwissenschaften 95, 677–680 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0369-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0369-9

Keywords

Navigation